


Angel (she flies as my heart soars)

by RainbowJeff



Series: Angel (she flies as my heart soars) [1]
Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Angel Luz, Archangel Amity, F/F, Fallen Angel Eda, Human!King, I guess Viney and Emira are a thing now, I suck at tags I’ll probably update them later, Luz has two hands, To hold her gf’s, angel and demon war, angel au, but he’s still a demon?, do I have to tag Willuz now?, its like Romeo and Juliet but with angels but also not really, like jeeze, me saying this like I’m not the one torturing her, poor willow, witches are basically angels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-21
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:47:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 30
Words: 51,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26573983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainbowJeff/pseuds/RainbowJeff
Summary: Her apology died on her lips as she took in the girl before her. A shock of mint green hair, piercing golden eyes, and white wings. Well, more like cream colored, but that's besides the point. Not an angel, an archangel.Luz withdrew her hand like she’d been burned, caught in that golden gaze. Her cheeks tinted red as the archangel's eyes bored into her soul. She tore her gaze away and made to pick up the fallen cup, but the girl waved her hand and miracled the spill away.“Next time, watch where you’re going.”Her voice was bright but cold, like bells ringing on a frozen winter’s day.“I’m sorry about your drink!”The archangel was already gone, white feathers a flash in the morning sun.
Relationships: Amity Blight & Luz Noceda, Amity Blight/Luz Noceda, Luz Noceda & Willow Park
Series: Angel (she flies as my heart soars) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2114493
Comments: 523
Kudos: 1306





	1. This is not a Coffee Shop AU

**Author's Note:**

> Heyyyyyy, I’m backkkkkkk
> 
> This one is less angsty than Ghost of You I swear, but it still has angst because I’m me and me wants angst ✌️
> 
> Edit: I have now remade my Instagram account!! Go follow if you want to see more of my art that I post on there, or if you want updates about any of my fics or upcoming fics. I’d really appreciate if you check it out, @rain.bowjeff, and thank you all for reading! 🥺

Luz had never been good with rules. 

But rules kept order, order kept peace; she knew that.

So why did she feel a longing in her chest every time she looked up and saw the archangels flying above her? 

It was wrong to wish to fly with them, and certain against the laws, but Luz had never been good with rules.

“Mija?”

She looked away from the window and saw her mother frowning at her from the kitchen. 

“Mija, we talked about this.”

The older angel’s graying wings folded as she crossed her arms. Luz did her best to look abashed, rubbing her neck and stretching her own wings. 

“I’m sorry, Mami. They just look so _happy_ up there.”

Camila rubbed her eyes and let out a small sigh. 

“Are you not happy?”

Luz stammered over her words as she tried to correct her mother. 

“Yeah, of course I am! I’m- I mean, I’ve got Willow and Gus and you and my training is going well, it’s just that it’s not fair!”

Her mother raised an eyebrow, adopting the same expression she always wore when they had this discussion. 

“And tell me, what is not fair?”

“You know what.”

Camila’s wings stretched out and folded again as she took a weary seat at the kitchen table. 

“Luz, you have a good life. You have two wonderful friends, you’re a hard worker, and you’ve managed to excel despite those _mentecata_ round ears of yours!”

She reached out and pinched an ear, and Luz let out a giggle despite herself.

Her mother smiled softly. 

“Your father would be very proud of you, mija. You get your rebellious streak from him, you know.”

Luz leaned forward a little, eyes wide with interest. Camila rarely talked about her papi, only ever mentioning a few little things every now and then.

She knew her mother had met him on a mission to Earth, and he’d died when she was an infant.

Oh, and he was also a human. That was important too.

“Now go relax with Willow and Augustus, and don’t spend too much time staring at the heavens!”

Luz smiled and waved goodbye to her mother, stretching her wings as she walked to the door.

“Te quiero, mami.”

“Take care, Luz.”

She spread her wings and flapped hard, shooting upwards as the wind caught her and lifted her skyward.

~~~

The Isles, sometimes called the Angel’s Isles, were where Luz and thousands of other angels called home. 

They floated above the clouds, miles and miles above Earth, hidden by powerful miracles that kept the occasional human spacecraft from finding them. Hundreds of individual sky islands made up the Isles, some small and remote, others so large they blocked out the sun when at the right angle.

On the largest island, located near the center of all the islands, anchored a grand palace where Archangel Belos and his angel subservients resided. She’d never been, the honor available to only the highest rankings of Archangels. 

Luz found it a little ironic that some common angels lived above the great archangel, albeit on much smaller islands.

The wind rustled through her feathers as she soared higher, though not daring to stray close to the Upper Isles.

Archangels lived amongst the Upper Isles, privileged to fly and live higher up than any common angel. Classified by their infamous white wings, archangels were seen as purer than a regular angel, therefore had more privileges. The term “colored wings” was once used to describe regular angels, though it had fallen out of fashion and was now seen as a derogatory term, even among most archangels.

_Snobs._

_Snobs with freedom._

Luz snorted and tucked her wings, diving towards two tiny figures waiting on a large island, littered with white marble buildings.

Their features came into focus as she flew closer, revealing a slightly plump female angel and a tall, skinny male angel. Luz grinned as she prepared to land, performing a roll and landing with one fist on the ground, wings spread, like some superhero.

Gus whistled appreciatively and Willow rolled her eyes, smirking a little.

“Dude, you just wasted an _awesome_ entrance.”

“Don’t encourage her Gus.”

Luz straightened as she spread her arms in a welcoming gesture, grin threatening to split her face in two. 

“Hola, compadres! Your savior has arrived!”

Willow snorted as Gus’s eyes grew a little wide.

“Oooo, is that a new human expression? Has your mom been teaching you more? Tell me!”

“Cut it out, Gustus.”

The dark haired angel smacked him on the shoulder, to which Gus let out a yelp and glared at Willow, rubbing his arm dejectedly. 

Willow and Luz were seventeen, while Gus was fifteen nearing sixteen. Despite him being younger, the coffee skinned angel was a good head taller than both of them, having hit a massive growth spurt a couple years back. He had plain brown wings that matched his curly hair, though they were tipped with white like an eagle’s.

Willow’s wings were so black that they looked blue, and they shimmered like obsidian in the sun. Luz often found herself comparing Willow’s wings to that of a starlings. Her mother had given her a picture book on the birds of Earth when she was little, and Luz had poured over the pages with relish, loving to compare the birds' wings to the wings of angels she knew. 

Her own wings looked like those of a red-tailed hawk’s, reddish brown, with darker brown streaks in them. They matched her mother’s, who had breathed a sigh of relief when her wings had started growing in. Camila hadn’t known if they would, with Luz being a half-breed and all.

“You might’ve gotten your father’s ears, but you certainly got my wings mija.”

Her mother had ruffled Luz’s hair as she beamed a gap toothed grin.

Jolting out of her thoughts, Luz wrapped her arms around Willow and Gus, steering them towards their favorite café. 

“Feel like trying nectar again, Luz?”

She shuddered as the two angels laughed, remembering the horrors of her first time drinking nectar. The two of them had to keep her hair out of her face while she spewed rainbow colored chunks into the café toilet. Yes, it was weird and disgusting and _not_ a pleasant experience. Willow had to perform a small miracle just to get the smell out of the air. 

Luz wrinkled her nose.

“Not even if you promised me a trip to Belos’s castle.”

“Honestly, I feel bad for you. That stuff is _heavenly_.”

“Thanks, Gus.”

“What? I’m just saying.”

The three of them chatted as they walked towards the café, groups of angels hanging out and playing discus, or sitting by the fountains and reading. It was a typical scene on a typical Sunday morning.

The warm, spicy scent of nectar wafted out of their destination, a line of angels stretching out the double doors. Willow saved their place in line as Luz and Gus went to look at the pastries. Her mouth watered. Oh, that ambrosia brownie was _calling_ to her.

The two of them rejoined Willow in line, slowly growing closer to the doors. As the trio was about to step inside, a motion caught Luz’s eye. A stray discus flew towards Gus's head, and her instincts kicked in, arm stretching out as she jumped up with a flap of her wings.

“Got it!”

Luz grinned triumphant as she caught the discus, but slammed into an angel exiting the café as she landed back on the ground. The angel’s drink spilled onto the sidewalk, golden liquid running down the cracks, and Luz caught her arm to keep them both from falling. 

“I’m sorry…”

Her apology died on her lips as she took in the girl before her. A shock of mint green hair, piercing golden eyes, and _white_ wings. Well, more like cream colored, but that's besides the point. Not an angel, an _archangel_.

Luz withdrew her hand like she’d been burned, caught in that golden gaze. Her cheeks tinted red as the archangel's eyes bored into her soul. She tore her gaze away and made to pick up the fallen cup, but the girl waved her hand and miracled the spill away.

“Next time, watch where you’re going.”

Her voice was bright but cold, like bells ringing on a frozen winter’s day.

“I’m sorry about your drink!”

The archangel was already gone, white feathers a flash in the morning sun. 


	2. Could it be a coincidence?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeehaw 🤠

Angels gaped at her, whispers breaking the tense silence that had settled over the café. Luz felt her face burn red with shame. 

“What’s an archangel doing down here anyway?”

Gus rubbed his chin in thought, while Willow frowned at the sky. She suddenly scoffed, drawing Luz’s attention away from her shoes.

“What?”

Willow shook her head, ruffling her feathers in an almost perturbed way. The crowd around them went back to their own business, satisfied that the incident was over.

“Nothing.”

She refused to look at where the archangel had flown away again. Luz and Gus exchanged a glance, but the boy just shrugged his shoulders and studied the pastry case intently. 

The trio eventually got their food, all of them oddly quiet as they sat on one of the park benches and ate. Discus’s flew past them, sending her heart racing a little when one came too close.

_ What was I supposed to do? _

_ It’s not like I was about to let Gus get a concussion, and how was I supposed to know that she was behind me! _

Luz sighed, stretching out her wings and yawing. 

Just then, Gus let out a huge burp, causing Willow to look at him with mock disgust and Luz let out a giggle. He grinned and belched again, chucking his empty cup into a nearby trash can, strange tension disappearing from the three of them.

“Up for a game?”

Willow hit him again, but Luz just laughed with a grin of her own.

“Too soon Gustus.”

He pouted, but the expression didn’t linger. Gus tugged at his chin, clearly thinking hard, but then snapped his fingers as something came to him.

“You know, I think that’s the first time I’ve seen an archangel up close, besides scrolls I mean. Those wings are  _ fascinating _ .”

Willow scowled again and chucked her own cup at the trash can, but missed. She sighed, waving her hand, causing the cup to float into the trash. 

“Let’s not talk about the archangel.”

Luz glanced at her, an unreadable expression on the other angel’s face. 

“Why not?”

Willow ran a hand through her hair, leaning back against the bench as the two of them looked at her curiously.

“They’re all just a bunch of pampered prissies.” 

Luz snorted, and a half smile graced Willow’s face.

“She was pretty cold to me, just flying away like that.”

Gus shook his head, extending his wings as he stood up. Luz gazed up at the sky again, catching glimpses of white wings high above them. 

“Usually they aren’t this far down, unless it’s for business. I wonder what she was doing.”

“Maybe she just really likes that café?”

Willow and Gus laughed, though Willow’s was slightly bitter.

“I’m sure they have much better eateries on the Upper Isles.”

Luz brightened, a smile tugging at her lips.

“Maybe it gets stuffy up there with all those overinflated egos.”

All three of them laughed at that, matching grins on their faces. The trio made their way across the park, joking about the pompous nature of archangels. Such comments were discouraged, but she’d never been one to follow such dumb rules.

“Besides, you saved me from a pretty nasty head injury.”

Luz patted Gus on the back, flexing her other arm.

“No problemo, amigo! I am your mighty savior, such deeds are trivial.”

Willow pretended to gag, causing the two of them to laugh.

“If your head gets any bigger, you won’t need wings to fly.”

“Hey!”

She grinned at Luz, a comfortable silence settling between the three friends. 

All thoughts of the golden eyed archangel were briefly banished from her mind.

~~~

The summons came on Tuesday morning, as Luz was devouring a heaping bowl of Ambrosi-os. Not the healthiest breakfast, but it was tasty and vegetables were for the weak. 

A knock sounded from the door, and Luz jumped out of the chair, nearly knocking her bowl over. She ran to answer it, mouth still bulging with cereal. She tugged the door open and was met with the surprised face of a messenger angel. He was holding a white envelope with a fancy seal and a clipboard. 

“Luz Noceda?”

She swallowed her breakfast and nodded, taking the envelope from him with slightly shaking hands.

Archangel Belos’s seal stared up at her, and with a leap of her throat, she realized what she was holding. Eyes widening, she turned away from the messenger angel and made to close the door.

“Ma’am? You have to sign for it.”

“Oh, right.”

Luz took the offered clipboard and messily scrawled her name, shutting the door behind her with a hasty ‘Thank you’ to the angel. With trembling hands, she tore open the letter.

An elated smile spread across her face as she read the elegant but formal script. An excited shout escaped her lips as she finished the letter, causing her mother to poke her head into the kitchen.

“Is everything okay?”

“I got a summons! I’ve got my first mission!”

Camila rushed into the room and threw her arms around Luz, the younger angel hugging back just as tightly, letter clutched in her fist.

Her mother pulled back, pride shining in her eyes. 

“I’m so happy for you, mija.”

She rubbed a gentle thumb against Luz’s cheek, smiling at her daughter.

“You’ve grown up too fast.”

Luz pulled back and scoffed.

“Nonsense, mami. I’ll always be your little angel.”

A single tear ran down her mother’s face, and Luz wrapped her arms around the older angel. The pair hugged each other tightly, a few happy tears falling down their faces.

Camila sniffled and pulled away.

“You better train extra hard until you have to go.”

“Mami!”

~~~

Mini angels flew rampant in Luz's stomach as she walked towards the giant marble building in front of her.

Missionaries Head Office.

She pulled out the letter one last time, now creased from handling, and double checked that this was the right place. The name on the letter matched the massive gold letters adorning the front of the building, so she tucked the letter back into her pocket and continued forward.

The angels beat their wings harder as Luz got closer.

_ Well, this is it. _

She took a deep breath and stepped inside, air suddenly rushing out of her lungs as she took in the sheer size of the place. It was  _ enormous. _

Hundreds of angels milled around, some wearing official looking uniforms, others carrying stacks of papers and wearing suits. The most shocking thing about the place was that there were archangels mixed in with regular angels. Granted, the other angels gave them a wide berth, but they were still  _ there _ .

Luz shivered, feeling slightly nauseous. The gleaming obsidian counter towards the left side of the building caught her eye, and she let out a sigh of relief when she read the words ‘Front Desk’.

Attempting to appear not out of place, she purposefully strode towards the counter, catching the attention of the angel behind it.

“Here for a summons?”

Still a little breathless, she could only nod.

“Name?”

She cleared her throat, heart thumping a little too fast as she answered.

“Luz Noceda.”

“Noceda…”

The angel scanned the list in front of her, before snapping her fingers. A clipboard flew towards the receptionist, who scanned it briefly before snapping her fingers again, and the clipboard returned back to the depths of paperwork it’d come from.

“You’ll be with Archangel Blight in Lecture Hall 221B, Angel Noceda.”

Luz smiled at the receptionist, clenching her hands into fists to keep them from shaking. She departed with a quick thanks.

She scanned the massive halls, stopping often to marvel at the architecture and the angels passing by. Several times, she had to stop someone and ask for directions, earning a couple of exasperated sighs, but they pointed her in the right direction. It wasn’t her fault, this place was like a maze.

_ I hope Archangel Blight is nicer than these people. _

Although, her luck hadn’t been too good when it came to archangels as of late.

Luz eventually found Lecture Hall 221B, thanks to the help of a rather kind old angel. Maybe not everyone here was that bad.

With still trembling hands, she pulled the door open and stepped inside. The hall was massive, a recurring theme with this place, yet a surprisingly small amount of angels sat in the numerous seats present. There couldn’t have been more than 15 of them in total.

“You must be Angel Noceda. You’re late.”

A voice came from behind her, a melody of frozen bells.

Luz whipped around, blood draining from her face as she recognized the angel standing in front of her.

It was  _ her,  _ the archangel from the café.

Arms folded in front of her, not a single strand of mint green hair out of place, an eyebrow raised above those golden eyes. Her cream white wings twitched almost irritably. 

“A great impression to make on your first day, I’m sure.”

She snapped back to her senses, blush spreading across her face, and stammered over her words.

“I uh- I got lost, Ma’am!”

Her eyebrow only raised higher.

“It’s Archangel Blight.”

“I got lost, Archangel Blight!”

The archangel scoffed, but Luz could’ve sworn a tiny smile appeared on the corner of her lips.

“Next time, make sure you leave earlier. I expect you to be punctual.”

_ “Next time, watch where you’re going.” _

She nodded frantically, clearing her head of their previous interaction.

“Yes, Archangel Blight!”

“Take a seat.”

Luz tore her eyes away from the archangel’s golden ones, and made her way to a seat. The rest of the angels looked at her in slight disbelief.

Well, today was going swimmingly.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah yeah it was obvious but I’m a sap for cliches


	3. Women with dangerous weapons are hot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this entire fucking chapter to Can’t Remember to Forget You by Shakira.
> 
> OOOOHHH OHH OHHHHH OH I CANT REMEMBER TO FORGET YOU, OHHHHH OHH OHHHHHH OHH I CANT REMEMBER TO LET YOU GO, BUT WHEN YOU LOOK AT ME, THE ONLY MEMORY, IS US KISSING IN THE MOONLIGHT 
> 
> don’t judge me it’s catchy 😣

Embarrassment burning on her cheeks, Luz sat down next to a rather buff female angel maybe a couple years older than her. The angel had brown hair pulled into a bun and bangs, with grey and brown streaked wings. A strange earring hung from her right ear.

“Nice going, Noceda.”

The angel grinned at her, a crooked one that Luz saw trouble written all over.

“It’s Luz.”

Her short and slightly exasperated response only brought a small chuckle from the other angel.

“Viney.”

She stuck out a hand to Luz, which she took with only a little hesitation. The strange earring swayed as they shook hands, and she found herself transfixed by it. Viney shot her another grin.

“Like my earring?”

“I’ve never seen anything like it.”

She touched it, a proud expression on her face.

“The humans call it a fish hook. I won it in a card game while I was on my last mission to Earth.”

Luz was suddenly aware that the angel before her was _cool_. While cool was objective, neither she or any of her friends had ever been seen as cool, in any form. Viney left her a little star struck. 

“Ya know, you and I’ll get along just fine. Besides, I think you almost made Little Miss stick-up-her-ass smile, so that’s a point for you in my book.”

Her eyes widened, and Luz whipped around to see Viney still grinning that crooked smile. She let out a slightly shocked laugh, not believing that the angel dared talk about an archangel that way.

“Is something funny, Angel Noceda?”

Luz turned her head back towards the front, Archangel Blight fixing her with an exasperated look.

She shook her head rapidly, and those golden eyes released hers from their burning hold.

“Now that Noceda has decided to give me her full attention, I’ll go over the mission.”

“Oh, demoted from Angel Noceda to just Noceda. A real blow there.”

Luz scowled at the angel and smacked her arm, and Viney just let out a quiet snicker. 

“Shut up.”

As the archangel dove into the mission details, Luz felt herself space out.

~~~

The demons, devils, hell’s spawn, whatever you wished to call them, were born along with the first two angels. The first angel had snowy white wings, while the other had wings made of all colors, grey, brown, red, black, gold, you name it. All angels and archangels are descended from those original two.

From the very beginning, demons and angels fought. Yet, while the angels inhabited the Isles, demons ran rampant amongst the humans. Guardian angels protected the weak humans, driving demons from towns and into hiding. Occasionally, demons rose up and posed as humans, driving massive wars into action. Always, they were stopped by angels.

Most demons resemble humans, just as angels do, minus the wings. Some demons have torn, bony wings, some fangs, some wicked talons, and others still with extra eyes and limbs. The rare demon can completely pass for human, but the stories say you can always recognize a demon by the sinister look in it’s eye(s). 

Bitter over their rotten way of life, demons never pass up an opportunity to tussle with an angel, and often cause problems among the humans to attract angels attention. A glimpse of an extra limb here, mutilations that look like they were caused by an animal there, and an angel scout will report the incident to Belos. A mission will be arranged, and an archangel will lead a group of angels to put a stop to the demons.

Such is the way it’s been for years.

Luz thought, angels have been turned from these majestic beings, to janitors mopping up the messes demons make. 

~~~

“This mission will be reconnaissance, nothing more, nothing less. Is that clear?”

A chorus of “Yes, Archangel Blight” echoed around the hall. Luz snapped out of her stupor, having missed the archangel’s speech.

She turned to face Viney and poked her in the side. The older angel looked at her with a confused expression. She hissed out a whisper, not wanting to be caught talking again.

“What’d I miss?”

The angel laughed quietly, expression morphing back into that crooked grin.

“Of course you weren’t paying attention.”

Luz gave her the best puppy dog eyes she could muster, and Viney groaned, rubbing her temples.

“Jeeze, enough with the eyes. It’s just a simple recon mission. We’re scouting out a demon bar.”

“There’s demon bars?!”

Viney chuckled again, noting how Luz’s eyes widened and shone with excitement.

“Well, there’s probably some humans there, but they’re so high that they don’t notice the demonic infestation.”

The archangel spoke again, jolting Luz’s attention back to the front. Her piercing eyes surveyed the room, lingering just a bit too long on Luz’s. An involuntary shiver ran down her spine.

“We’re going to move to the training fields so I can test what your strengths are. Follow me.”

With that, she strode towards the door and angels leapt out of their seats, not wanting to be left behind.

The group followed Archangel Blight through a maze of twisting hallways. Several times, Viney had to poke Luz in the arm to get her to stop staring at the statues and many eye-catching bits of architecture in the grand building. Somehow, the group spilled out of a side door that led to an open clearing with assorted pieces of training equipment.

Oh, and the _weapons_. 

Weapon racks lined the field, holding anything from bronze short swords to a particularly wicked looking mace that Luz was drawn to instantly. As angels scattered to look at weapons, she picked up the mace almost reverently and gave it a few experimental swings. 

“Do you even know how to use that thing?”

She flailed the mace around once more, and Viney jumped back in fear.

“Nope.”

Luz set the mace down and turned to the angel, who was holding a pair of twin iron hammers, twirling one with practiced ease.

“Maybe you should stick with a sword or something.”

Glancing around, a few weapons caught her eye, but none looked quite right. Luz sighed, slightly defeated.

“Here.”

Turning back towards Viney, the angel held out a golden sword hilt first to Luz. As she took it, she realized that it was a Roman gladius. Maybe it was even _from_ Ancient Rome. Some of the weapons here looked even older than that.

Luz gripped the hilt and slashed upwards, feeling the weight rest comfortably in her hand. She grinned at Viney, who just returned the smile.

“Thanks.”

“I’ve got an eye for these sorts of things.”

The pair made their way towards the rest of the group, clustering around the archangel. Blight held a spear with a nasty curved edge that Luz recognized as a glaive.

_Of course she would use a showy weapon like that._

“Who wants to go first?”

The group exchanged confused glances, mutters breaking out until the archangel held up a hand to silence them. She pointed to a tough looking angel with pitch black wings and slicked back hair, and his friend shoved him forward with a snicker. He stumbled forward, glaring at his friend, and sized up the archangel. Snorting a little, he cracked his knuckles and pulled his broadsword from its sheath, grinning confidently.

Quick as a dart, almost faster than Luz’s eyes could follow, Blight lunged at the angel, who could barely raise his blade fast enough to block the lightning fast sweep of her glaive. The confident smile faded from his face. 

Flapping her wings in a couple powerful beats, the archangel vaulted over him and turned her weapon around, slamming the butt of the glaive into the back of his knees. Wincing, Luz averted her eyes as the angel let out a loud yell and crumpled to the ground. 

She turned back to duel as Archangel Blight kicked the sword out of his hand and held the point of her glaive against his throat.

“Disappointing.”

The archangel removed the blade and pointed to the angel’s friend.

“Help him up.”

Hurrying forward, the other angel picked him off the ground, and the defeated angel glared hatefully towards Blight. She just watched him hobble off with a disinterested look.

Viney turned towards Luz and whispered softly, staring up at Archangel Blight with something like grudging respect on her face.

“That was brutal.”

Shell shocked, Luz nodded, feeling a little numb. The fight couldn’t have lasted longer than a minute, if even that. 

The archangel turned back towards the group, surveying the shocked and now slightly frightened faces of the angels before her. Those golden eyes landed on Luz once more, and Blight pointed at her, crooking a finger.

Viney muttered to her as panic laced Luz’s veins. 

“Dude, I think she has a vendetta against you.”

“ _Shut up._ ”

With shaky legs and clammy palms, she made her way to the archangel. As she held her gladius up, the archangel cocked an eyebrow and leveled her glaive at Luz’s chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> badass amity Badass Amity b a d a s s A m i t y bAdDaSs AmItY BADASS AMITY
> 
> Also apparently Viney is now a main character in this fic because she’s underrated


	4. You’re like a spear in my heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bro.... what if we had a homoerotic sword fight... jk.... unless?
> 
> That comment made me laugh so much I swear 😂

Tension filled the space between them as Luz racked her brain, frantically trying to remember any useful bits of information that would help. The two circled each other, Blight still crouched in a defensive position, expecting Luz to attack first.

_ No, let her come to me. _

She let out a shaky breath and hunkered down, staring into the archangel’s eyes. They were strange, almost like pools of frozen gold, and Luz nearly missed the inevitable attack because she got a little lost in them.

Cursing, her dodge was barely fast enough, the glaive blade almost scraping the side of her face. The missed strike briefly threw Archangel Blight off balance, and Luz twisted her sword as fast as she could muster into a wide slash. 

Quick as a flash, as if the archangel could read her mind, Blight threw open her wings to stop her momentum and met Luz’s blade with an echoing clang. 

_ Heavens, she’s good. _

Their eyes met once more, and she watched the corners of Archangel Blight’s mouth fall into a slight frown. Luz’s blade trembled as raw strength pressed against it, metal screeching as the gladius scraped against the steel handle of Blight’s glaive. 

A silent something passed between them. She could almost hear the archangel’s unspoken words.

_ You will regret embarrassing me. _

In another too fast movement, Archangel Blight flapped backwards and adjusted her grip on the glaive until it was held in one hand. She swung the weapon towards Luz, who was forced to duck if she wanted to keep her head. 

Now separated by six feet of deadly spear, she took the opportunity to assess her situation. Clearly outmatched, Luz just hoped she could last long enough to impress the archangel. She scowled at the thought.

_ Not that I want to impress her, I just don’t want to be seen as screw up anymore. _

She let out an exhale, readjusting her grip, and studied Archangel Blight. The archangel favored her left, a severe disadvantage for Luz. She was used to fighting right handed opponents, their stance entirely different, but no doubt that Blight was used to right handed as well. There weren’t many left handed fighters, and so Luz had never trained against how to properly block a left handed attack.

It was, frustrating, to say the least.

She missed the attack.

In her distraction, the archangel caught a passing gust of wind and somehow ended up behind Luz, a burst of pain erupting from the back of her legs.

Falling to the ground, she barely remembered to roll over and bring her sword up, waves of pain disrupting her focus. Their blades met, glaive pointed at Luz’s heart, and her sword wavered as the archangel’s strength bore down on her. 

No more than two seconds passed before Blight hooked the curve of her blade under Luz’s, flipping it out of her hand. 

Charged air crackled between the two as the archangel’s glaive remained pointed over her heart. Slowly, she brought the tip of her weapon down and away from Luz, the angel letting out a sigh of relief. Shifting her eyes away from the weapon, she looked up at the archangel, who was wearing an unreadable expression on her face.

A piece of teal hair had fallen out of Blight’s neat half-ponytail, and her cheeks were slightly flushed, though she didn’t look that out of breath. Tension lingered between them, though those golden eyes seemed a little less cold, and a small smile appeared in the corner of the archangel’s mouth. 

“Better than I expected.”

Blight reached a hand down, and in a slight daze, Luz noted that the archangel’s voice seemed huskier than usual. Hesitantly, she took Archangel Blight’s hand. 

It was softer than expected, somehow not marred with the same calluses that Luz had built up over years of rigorous training. If possible, the archangel’s hand seemed the opposite of her eyes. Instead of hard and cold, it was soft and warm. Too warm.

Her touch burned as Luz stood up. 

Pain shot through her legs again, jolting her back to the present. She let go of Blight’s hand and took a couple shaky steps, glad that she could walk without help and not embarrass herself any further. 

As Luz made her way back to the group, Viney shot her an impressed look and a subtle thumbs up. She halfheartedly returned the gesture.

“Who’s next?”

~~~

No more than an hour later, the entire group sat on the grass, groaning over their new injuries. Luz was feeling marginally better, thanks to Viney’s healing miracle, only left with a couple bruises on the back of her legs. 

The other angels had fared just as poorly as Luz, some worse, some slightly better, but it didn’t matter when they were all solidly defeated.

Archangel Blight wasn’t even out of breath.

She was currently pacing the field, jotting down notes on a pad of paper and muttering quietly. Luz studied her, heart jumping a little whenever she crossed a name off the list she held, while Viney just ran her fingers through the grass. 

The archangel muttered to herself again, tugging at her chin in frustration, and Luz was suddenly caught in a sense of deja vu. It was almost the exact same expression Gus made whenever he was thinking about something, or researching a new human fact that he recently learned. 

_ Really, she’s not that much older than I am. _

Luz frowned as the archangel continued to pace. She’d been distracted before by Blight’s other features, mainly her wings, and those surprisingly strong arms as they’d pointed a six foot spear at her.

_ Focus _ .

But as Luz studied the archangel, she realized that her face still held a quality of childlike youth. 

“Hey, Viney?”

“What’s up Noceda?”

“Do you know how old Archangel Blight is?”

Viney turned towards her, that crooked grin spreading across her face again. She leaned backwards and wiggled her eyebrows at Luz.

“Why? You got the hots for her?”

Luz flushed a deep red, probably not helping her case, and swatted the angel.

“No! She just looks younger than I realized.”

The angel looked towards Blight, who was still pacing, and frowned in a thoughtful manner. 

“I’d say she’s about your age, squirt. Heck, this is probably her first mission.”

“Oh.”

_ That would explain why she looks a little nervous. _

The archangel furiously scribbled something on her notes and finally ceased her pacing, making her way towards the rest of the group. Luz gulped, nerves from earlier returning full force. Archangel Blight stopped in front of them, surveying how most of the angels were still wincing in pain.

“Alright, listen up.”

Everyone’s eyes snapped up to meet the archangel’s. 

“I was slightly disappointed by the results of this little competition, but no matter. In this case, I have decided to make a few cuts concerning who will be attending this mission.”

Sharp inhales sounded around the group as every angel held their breath.

“Angels Miller, Pike, Roberts, Bishop, Connell, and Lancaster will not be joining us.”

Luz let out a long sigh of relief and looked at Viney inquisitively. The angel just shook her head at Luz.

“Last name’s Griffin.”

She gave Viney a subtle high five as the angels around them either broke into excited chatter or looked around disappointedly. Six names were called, which only left ten of them, including Archangel Blight.

“Those of you who were called may leave.”

Luz heard grumbles around her as the unlucky angels stood and departed. She noticed that the tough looking angel from before and his friend both left. 

“Now, for the rest of you, we leave in two days. I’m aware that this is the first mission some of you have attended-“

The archangel shot a look at Luz, who shrank in on herself.

“-so make sure that you bring both a weapon and your summons. You will not be able to leave the Isles without either. If you wish, you may bring the weapon you used today.”

Luz ran a finger along her gladius.

_ It is a nice sword. _

She decided then that she would keep it.

“You all may go.”

The rest of the group clambered to their feet, talking amongst themselves. Viney stood and shrugged, tucking the twin hammers into her belt loops. Luz strapped the sheath of her sword to her own jeans, not quite comprehending that she’d made it through. She turned back to Viney, and the older angel grinned at her.

“Hey, look at you! Despite Blight’s vendetta, you-“

“Angel Noceda, can I speak to you for a second?”

Luz’s heart sunk to her stomach while Viney turned red and adopted a sheepish expression, desperately hoping the archangel hadn’t heard her.

“Well, I’ll see you around Noceda.”

With that, Viney turned away from the two and disappeared in a flash of feathers.

Luz turned back to Archangel Blight, rubbing her arm dejectedly.

“Am I cut as well?”

The archangel looked surprised, golden eyes widening ever so slightly.

“What? Er, no, you did fine.”

Against her will, she let out a sigh of relief, feeling her heart rise a little.

“About the other day, at the café.”

Archangel Blight crossed her arms defensively, cream feathers puffing out slightly as she adopted that cold expression.

“If you would refrain from mentioning that to the other mission members, I just- I’d appreciate it if you didn’t.”

Luz felt her heart drop again.

“Oh, ok.”

The archangel raised an eyebrow at her.

“It won’t be a problem, Archangel Blight.”

She nodded at Luz, turning on her heel. The archangel called back over her shoulder, eyes still defensive.

“Good.”

Luz felt slightly sick as she walked away.

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes I made Viney’s last name Griffin because she has a pet griffin, get it? yeah ok I know it’s cliche but whatever.
> 
> Y’all notice how I just love to pepper in angst....


	5. A statement on how depressing Earth is

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys I’m tired and I didn’t proof read this so it’s probably going to have a bunch of spelling errors :)

**Willow 9:27 am:** Good luck on the mission Luz!!! 

**Gus 9:28 am:** dont let that archangel get to you ;)

  
  


**Luz 9:28 am:** thanks! and don’t worry gustus, im as cool as a cucumber. ice cold baby

Luz smiled and tucked her scroll into her pocket.

“Mami, I’m going now!”

She stood against the door, newly acquired sword hanging from her belt and summons clutched tightly in her fist. Luz heard a thud from upstairs, and her mother’s head appeared, looking slightly frazzled. The older angel nearly flew down the stairs, wrapping her in a tight hug.

“I’m sorry that I can’t be there to see you off, mija. The clinic wants me to come in early today, and-“

Luz just smiled at her mother, squeezing her tighter, cutting her rambling off.

“It’s ok, mami. I know you’ll be there in spirit.”

Camila looked slightly tearful, pride shining in her eyes as she looked at Luz. The older angel pinched Luz’s cheek, eliciting a giggle from her.

“You better take care of yourself.”

“I will!”

Her mother gave her one last hug, and wiped a tear from her eye. Luz waved back at her, feeling a sense of elation as she flew out the door. 

~~~

It was a beautiful day in the Isles. Thermals and gusts of wind caught her wings, lifting her higher, lifting her dangerously close to the Upper Isles. Luz glanced up, seeing white wings pass above her, and she was gripped with that same feeling that had been growing in her stomach lately. It wasn’t a bad one, just… different.

Catching herself before she passed the invisible line that every angel knew, she tucked her wings and executed a thrilling dive, wind whistling through her wings and her hair. A gleeful smile lit up her face, reveling in the feeling of being absolutely free, the only thing that existed was her and the wide open sky. 

Well, for a short while, and then an island emerged from nowhere. 

Luz threw open her wings, slowing herself down, and banked a hard left around the island. Her heart thrummed as she recovered from the scare, but let out a chuckle as she finally started to fly towards her destination.

_ What would mami say? _

_ Probably something along the lines of “Don’t be so careless, mija!” and then just ruffle my hair and give me a hug. _

She smiled, heart full of love for her mother.

In the distance, the Angel’s Gates glimmered their usual sun-warmed gold, and Luz tucked her wings once more and shot towards them like a dart. She’d made a promise to herself that she wouldn’t be late again, and she intended to keep it. 

As she neared her destination, Luz spotted a few angels waiting at the base of the gates, along with a familiar pair of white wings.

That feeling was back again.

She landed somewhat clumsily, eyes fixated on the archangel that stood nearby, who was too busy writing something to notice Luz. 

As if Archangel Blight could hear thoughts, she looked up and fixed those now familiar yet still cold golden eyes on the angel. Luz’s heart rate kicked up a couple notches, unwillingly meeting the archangel’s eyes but somehow unable to look away. 

“On time today I see, Angel Noceda. Did you remember your summons?”

Freezing, she patted the pockets of her jeans, letting out a sigh of relief as her fingers made contact with the slip of paper. A slightly giddy grin appeared on her face as she pulled the paper out and waved it in the air. The archangel’s expression didn’t change at all, but she nodded and checked Luz’s name off.

“Good.”

Still grinning, the angel looked up at the structure, marveling at just how massive it was up close. Guards lined the sides, holding massive chains that were used to open the gates, keeping an eye out for comers and goers.

A breeze whistled past her, and Luz turned, seeing Viney land next to her. Viney grinned and flashed her a peace sign, to which Luz snorted and punched the angel on the shoulder.

“I can’t believe you ditched me and left me at the mercy of Archangel Blight.”

Viney waved her off and shrugged.

“I knew you’d be fine. Look, you’re still in one piece, so it couldn’t have been that bad.”

Luz just crossed her arms, fake pouting.

“What’d she want anyway?”

Her frown melted into a real one, and Viney didn’t miss how her eyes lost their joking glint.

“Nothing important.”

The older angel crossed her arms, mirroring Luz’s expression.

“You’re a terrible liar.”

She sighed, eyes unwillingly flicking again towards the archangel. Blight still stood in the same spot, writing something in her notes, feathers ruffling subconsciously.

“Trust me, it doesn’t matter.”

Viney uncrossed her arms and patted Luz on the shoulder, expression shifting into a slightly fond one.

“Alrighty then squirt, but if she gives you any more trouble, that archangel will meet the wrath of Skull Crusher and Knee Smasher!”

With that, the angel whipped out her new hammers, spinning them between her fingers. Dumfounded, Luz suddenly doubled over and howled in laughter while Viney just grinned.

“Those are the  _ dumbest  _ names I’ve ever heard for a weapon.”

“What’s so funny?”

She straightened up and turned towards the archangel, who had the slightest trace of a smile on her face. Viney whipped her hand up into a sloppy salute while Luz desperately tried to contain her laughter.

“Nothing at all, Archangel Blight!”

The archangel’s slight smile disappeared instantly as she frowned at Viney, who cowered a bit under the glare.”

“Hmm.”

Blight turned back to her notes, and Viney dropped the salute with a sigh of relief. She mimed wiping a bead off sweat off her brow as Luz continued to stifle giggles behind her hand. 

“Damn, she’s scarier than I remembered.”

“Viney, she’s going to  _ kill  _ you.”

“Then we’ll die together, squirt.”

“We are the exact same height.”

The pair continued bickering until a loud whistle sounded from Archangel Blight’s lips. Immediately, the gathered angels quieted and faced the archangel, who simply gestured towards the gates.

“Let’s head down.”

The group instantly sombered, the weight of their mission suddenly becoming a reality as they remembered just why they were here. The massive golden gates shuddered open, and one by one, the angels descended to Earth.

~~~

As they landed, the first thing Luz noticed was the smell. She couldn’t identify the individual elements, but in a word, it smelled  _ unclean.  _ Her nose wrinkled in displeasure and surprise, and she noticed that Blight’s did as well.

_ Looks like Viney was right. _

“What’s the smell?”

“Gasoline and cigarettes. The humans use it to fuel their cars and their addictions.”

She noticed how the angel’s shoulders hunched a little as she said this, expression unusually downcast. Luz had more questions, but she didn’t want to depress Viney any further, so she kept quiet.

The ten of them had landed in sparse clearing littered with a few trees, moonlight casting their shadows on the ground. She frowned. As if Viney could read her mind, she answered Luz’s unspoken question.

“Time is different here.”

The older angel didn’t elaborate.

Near the front of the group, Archangel Blight took a deep breath and addressed them.

“Our destination isn’t far from here, so we’ll walk to maintain cover. Remember, our goal here is to blend in with the humans, attempt to find the demons, and gather intel on them. Just for security, I’ll be casting a cloaking miracle that’ll hide our wings and ears for a few hours. Got it?”

Nods and “Yes, Archangel Blight” broke out around the group, and the archangel pulled what looked like a wooden stick out of her bag. Viney sucked in a breath, and murmurs broke out among the angels, while Luz looked around, slightly confused.

“A relic.”

Viney looked at the archangel almost reverently.

“Those are really rare. There’s no way that the miracle could fade prematurely if she’s using a relic. Guess Blight really wants this mission to go well.”

Archangel Blight held out the relic and traced a circle with it, muttering a phrase under her breath.

Luz felt shivers run down her spine and turned her head, watching her wings slowly disappear. The sensation was strange, as she could no longer see or feel her wings present. They were completely gone.

She looked up to see the other angels admiring their de-winged forms, or touching their now round ears. Self-consciously, Luz touched her own ears, but of course they hadn’t changed at all. 

“Let’s go.”

Having recovered from the transformation, Archangel Blight beckoned them with a wave. Luz startled at the lack of white wings adorning the archangel’s form, and she frowned.

_ Is an archangel still an archangel without their wings? _

Blight looked just like the rest of them, just a normal angel. Still young, just barely an adult.

_ Does she have fears like the rest of us? Is she really anything like the rest of us?  _

Luz puzzled over the archangel the rest of their walk to the bar. When they neared the place and grew closer to downtown, as Viney told her it was called, the permeating smell got stronger and the sidewalks became dirtier and littered with trash.

The name of the bar, Junior’s, hung above the dark grey building in weak neon letters. It was a grungy, grimy looking place, and a few humans hung outside, lighting small white sticks that Viney had called cigarettes. Luz stared at them, unable to tear her eyes away. She’d never seen a human before, and the angel wasn’t quite sure she was fond of what she saw. 

Blight looped around the back way, humans ignoring the group, and pushed open a small door that she’d miracled open. The angels filtered in behind her, and were met with quiet. Luz leaned over and whispered to Viney.

“Aren’t bars supposed to be loud?”

The older angel frowned and rested her hands on her hammers.

“They’re supposed to be.”

The archangel held up her hand, turning towards the angels and placing a finger on her lips, before making a gesture that indicated to _spread_ _out._

Luz separated from the group and crept down a dark, dingy hallway, heart thumping too loud and too fast. The place was creepy, silence feeling wrong and unnatural compared to the constant noise of the Isles. She opened a few doors, frown deepening when nothing interesting greeted her eyes.

The angel sighed in frustration, leaning against the wall, and her elbow hit what looked like a light switch. 

The wall shuddered, folding in on itself, and Luz jumped back in surprise. As the wall stopped moving and she recovered from her scare, the angel now stood facing an entryway that had appeared, stairs descending into what looked like a basement.

Swallowing her nerves, she made her way down the stairs. Each step creaked, but as she descended, a faint chatter grew louder and louder. When Luz reached the base of the stairs, the chatter had grown into individual voices, and she peaked her head around the corner.

The angel slammed her back against the wall, heart pounding once more. 

The basement was filled with demons.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jesus it’s chapter five and 8k words in and we JUST got to the plot. Like, yeesh, this is probably gonna be a stupidly long fic. Also stan Viney for clear skin-


	6. What’s this feeling in my stomach?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I’m back. Writing is honestly my only escape, so I’m continuing this story and just- I don’t know I ran outta words so I’ll just shut up and post the chapter now.
> 
> P.S. The “theme song” I guess for this story is Angel in Your Eyes by LSD, it’s been playing in my head on loop for days and is scarily accurate to this fic.
> 
> https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=F-7aA6_9n5U

Panic gripped her as she slowly peeked around the corner once more. Dozens of demons clustered around the stage, watching and listening to a male demon speak.

_I shouldn’t be here._

_They’re going to see me, and probably kill me._

_I couldn’t beat one archangel, how could I hold off 50 demons?_

_I shouldn’t be here, I shouldn’t be here, I shouldn’t-_

A hand clasped over her mouth, muffling both Luz’s thoughts and her scream. She struggled against her assailant, but they held her in a vice grip, and she considered biting their hand before she noticed the black nail polish and a faint smell of mint.

_“Will you quit squirming, it’s just me Noceda!”_

Luz recognized Archangel Blight’s voice as the words were whispered, warm breath from the archangel ghosting across her ear. She let out a shiver and forced herself to relax, going limp as Blight slowly removed her hand from Luz’s mouth.

The archangel let out a sigh as she looked at Luz with that same indecipherable expression. She carefully poked her head around the corner and immediately adopted the same position as the angel, back flat against the wall and eyes wide with surprise. Luz thought she saw a flash of fear in those golden eyes, but it was gone as quick as the thought registered. The archangel pulled away from the wall and started muttering to herself, Luz catching a few words.

“Okay….. fine….. _pull yourself together Amity_ ….. room….. demons.”

The name registered after a few seconds.

“Amity?”

The archangel snapped out of her daze and glared at her.

“Don’t call me that.”

Luz dropped her gaze and peeked around the corner again, heart stuttering when she reprocessed the massive gathering of demons mere yards away from them.

“Well sorry if it’s a bit awkward to keep referring to you as ‘Archangel Blight’ or ‘Blight’ in my head!”

She hissed the words out in a hurry, _Amity_ looking at her in disbelief.

“Do you have no regard for manners or formalities at all?”

“I don’t like dumb rules. Plus, you scared the _jeepers_ out of me, so you owe me this.”

The archangel looked ready to strangle her.

“Also I claim insanity on the basis that there’s an _entire roomful of demons_ next to us, so you really can’t blame me for any lapse in formalities.”

Amity rubbed her temples, a vein sticking out in her neck.

“When we get out of here, _never_ use my first name again.”

“Noted, Archangel Blight.”

The archangel huffed and looked around the corner once more, surveying the room. Luz smiled a little and gave herself a discreet high five.

_Noceda-1, Blight- 1._

_Or is it 1 to 2?_

She shook her head and glanced at the demons again around Amity’s shoulder, feeling slightly better now that someone else was there and probably on her side.

_Keep your priorities straight._

As the archangel pulled her scroll out of her pocket and hit the record button, Luz realized that she probably should be listening to what the demon was saying. She refocused her attention on the demon, noting his horns, one broken at the base, and his boney wings, skin tattered and stretched between them like at bat’s. 

The demon wore a strange assortment of clothes, including a long brown cloak that hung poorly on his scrawny frame, a red shirt, dark jeans, and leather bands on his arms. A collar with what looked like a golden tag hung around his neck, and a pair of round, reflective red sunglasses perched on his nose.

“As I was saying, you’re all wimps and you can crawl back to hell if you don’t like my plan!”

Jeers and boos rang out across the space.

“We’re free demons, and we don’t listen to nobody, especially not your skinny ass!”

The demon stamped his foot and let out what could only be described as a squeal of rage. As his temper tantrum subsided, the demon bared his teeth, revealing long, white canines that Luz and Amity both flinched at.

“ALL OF YOU ARE INCOMPETENT IDIOTS.”

A quiet settled in the room.

“If you don’t want to be my loyal subjects, fine. But I’m telling you now, the angels will crush you beneath their feet if we don’t band together. You like your freedom and your ability to create second-rate problems that don’t have any real effect, fine. My talents are wasted here anyway.”

The crowd cheered as the demon made his way off the stage.

“Get lost, we don’t want you here!”

“You aren’t our king, King.”

Luz looked over at Amity and mouthed ‘ _King?’._ The archangel shrugged and jotted the name down in her notes. She glanced at Luz and gestured towards the retreating demon, so the angel stood and watched him sulk out the back door. Praying to the heavens, Luz crept along the back wall behind the assembled demons after King, who all somehow failed to see the angel.

Letting out a shaky sigh of relief, she slowly shut the door behind her and found herself in a dimly lit alleyway filled with trash bags. The demon stood a good 30 feet away from her, angrily kicking one of the trash bags. He swiped at a bag with his hand, and slashes appeared across it, spilling human waste across the already filthy alley.

The streetlight above caught on the demon’s claws, white like bone and wickedly sharp, causing Luz to gulp.

As she tried to calm her racing heart and slowly drew her sword from its sheath, an approaching figure caused her to pause. 

The person drew closer to King, who quit destroying trash and looked up in apparent annoyance.

“What took you so long, fuzzball?”

The figure stepped into the streetlight, revealing a middle-aged woman with a mane of orange hair, who grinned at the demon. As the woman did so, a single golden canine shone in the dim light.

_Another demon?_

“Shut it, witch! You promised that you’d come see my grand speech, but you missed the whole thing.”

The woman just raised an eyebrow.

“Did you storm out again when they wouldn’t listen to you?”

“It was for dramatic effect, Eda, not that you’d know anything about it!”

Luz made a mental note of the name.

She tightened her grip on her sword and squinted at the two. Upon further observation, the woman appeared to have no demonic features, aside from a pair of…

Pointed ears.

The sword slipped out of her hand and clattered to ground, drawing the attention of the two.

_Crap._

Luz felt her heart stop momentarily as she scrambled to pick up her sword and lept out her hiding place, all attempts at subterfuge forgotten.

Now the only thing that stood between Luz, Eda and King was a slightly unsteady sword because it’s owner was currently shaking like a leaf.

The demon bared his fangs and claws, while the woman looked unimpressed.

“Oh wonderful, another drugged out human with a dangerous weapon.”

Luz tried to stop trembling.

“My name is Angel Noceda, and I’m here to put a stop to your shenanigans in the good name of Archangel Belos!”

_Ok, I could’ve phrased that better._

Eda’s eyebrow only raised higher as she studied Luz.

“Where are your wings and ears then, Angel Noceda?”

A voice of frozen bells rang out behind her, and Luz almost sobbed in relief.

“Hidden by powerful miracles, demons. It’s a good thing that I don’t need them when the rest of my squad and I capture you and bring you back to Archangel Belos.”

Luz glanced back at Amity, who had had her glaive pointed at Eda and King, fury dancing those golden eyes.

King growled, crouching lower and flexing his claws.

“ _Archangel_ , I can smell it on her.”

She glanced back at Amity once more, who fixed those eyes on her, the intensity in her gaze sending a chill down her spine.

“Luz, _step back._ ”

In that moment, she wasn’t sure who she was more afraid of, Eda and King, or Amity.

_No, she isn’t Amity right now, she’s Archangel Blight._

She took a cautious step back, then two, then she was standing next to the archangel. Heavy tension filled the space between each pair. 

Eda slowly raised her hand, causing Archangel Blight to tense, but the fiery-haired woman only rested her hand on the demon’s shoulder.

“King, we’re about to be overrun by angels. Let’s bounce.”

The two turned and walked away, their forms melting into the shadows around them. Luz watched as the tension drained from the archangel’s body, and she seemed to revert back from Archangel Blight to Amity. 

Silence hung between them.

“You know, I totally had it handled.”

Amity fixed her with the same look of disbelief Luz was slowly becoming accustomed to.

“That demon was ready to rip you to pieces, Noceda.”

She hung her head, running a finger along her sword, silence turning icy in the cold night’s air.

“You called me Luz before.”

Archangel and angel stared at each other, neither backing down, neither yielding. That same feeling in the pit of Luz’s stomach returned with surprising intensity as Amity’s eyes bored into her soul. She felt raw, exposed, and unsure. 

A flush spread across her face, and Luz prayed that the archangel wouldn’t notice in the dim light.

“Does it matter?”

Amity’s voice was soft, so different from the harsh look in her eyes.

“It matters to me.”

The archangel tore her gaze from Luz, eyes darting around, before snapping back to where they were before. The nails on her left hand bit into Luz’s palm as she clenched them tighter, and the sword in her other hand grew heavy.

“Not around anyone else, got it?”

She nodded before she really understood what Amity was saying. Luz could’ve sworn that the tips of the archangel’s ears turned red, but it was probably a trick of the light. Her own face still felt hot.

“Let’s find the others.”

Dutifully, she followed Amity out of the alleyway.

_What just happened?  
  
_

__

(This is my drawing of what King looks like, all the other characters look relatively the same, except Eda has orange hair. Also I just realized I forgot one of the armbands and it’s pissing me off-)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Me too Luz, I have no idea what just happened either *chuckles in angsty slow burn*  
> 2\. No, I didn’t mean to make King edgy, it kinda happened on accident  
> 3\. Eda still has orange hair because no curse and she’s like 45-ish  
> 4\. Luz is legally not allowed to say fuck.  
> 5\. Yay! Plot!


	7. She’s confusing.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, Luz discovers g a y y e a r n i n g 
> 
> (But she’s still dumb and oblivious and that’s why we love her)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is short, I’ll probably post another chapter tomorrow

As the two of them eventually located the rest of their group, all the energy suddenly drained out of Luz’s body. Pent up adrenaline was replaced with the feeling of being _safe,_ and so waves of exhaustion washed over her. 

Luz stumbled a little, and found herself caught by two different hands. One belonged to Viney, and the other belonged to the archangel that was _really_ confusing her tonight.

“Woah there squirt, what’d you do to wipe yourself out like that?”

As soon as Archangel Blight was aware of her hand resting on Luz’s elbow, she retracted her arm and crossed it over her chest in a defensive position, turning away from the two angels.

“She’s confusing.”

In Luz’s exhaustion-addled mind, she thought she’d said the words inside her head, but Viney looked at her in surprise.

“Blight? Yeah, what exactly happened tonight?”

Luz shook her head and stood up straight, rubbing her eyes to dispel the sleepy haze that had settled over them. She leaned against the wall and sighed.

“We ran into a bunch of demons, like dozens of them Viney! There was this one demon, King, who must’ve been rallying them for some big conspiracy, I’m not sure, but none of the other demons would listen and he ended up storming off. Blight told me to follow him, and I did, but then there was another woman, who was probably a demon but she had pointy ears like us!”

Viney raised an eyebrow at this, but motioned for her to continue.

“Anyway, when I saw that, I dropped my sword like a _bumbling idiot_ , and then I threatened them, also like an _idiot_!”

The older angel laughed and slapped her on the back, to which Luz scowled at and winced slightly.

“That sounds like something you’d do. Continue please.”

“So, I threatened them and I thought King was about to rip me apart, but Blight came out of nowhere!”

“Uh huh.”

“And she got really protective of me I guess, basically told the two of them to get lost before she gored them with that glaive of hers. King looked ready to also rip Am- I mean Blight apart, but Eda told him that they should leave before the rest of you guys showed up.”

“Eda?”

“Oh, the other woman I mentioned.”

“Right.”

Viney also leaned against the wall, digesting everything Luz had just told her. Over to the left of them, it appeared that the archangel was also informing the rest of the group what’d just occurred.

After a few seconds, the older angel swallowed and turned back to her.

“Damn kid, no wonder why you’re so tired, all that adrenaline must’ve run through you like bad nectar.”

Luz wrinkled her nose at that.

“Anything else particularly interesting that I should know about?”

“Well, I guess-”

_Golden eyes, for once showing a glimmer of vulnerability in them._

_Voice, soft with uncertainty._

The words on her lips died.

_I shouldn’t tell Viney about that._

“-nothing else noteworthy happened. We kinda just looked for the rest of the group after that.”

The lie tasted bitter in her mouth.

Viney didn’t look convinced, but nodded anyway.

“She smells like mint, you know.”

The words slipped out before Luz could stop them, while Viney just let out a chuckle, crooked grin returning to her face.

“I can’t say I’m surprised.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing kid, nothing at all.”

~~~

The group of angels exited the bar and made their way back to the spot they’d landed, whispering among themselves about the demons. 

Luz kept her eyes glued to the back of Amity’s mint green head, watching her half-ponytail sway back and forth as the archangel strode purposefully ahead of them.

What’s more, that feeling in her stomach would not go away, and she was getting tired of her insides twisting themselves into knots every time she looked at the archangel.

She nearly groaned in frustration.

_Why is she like this?!_

_It would be so much easier if she was either nice all the time or hated my guts all the time._

_I can’t deal with this, this hot and cold thing._

_I mean, does she hate me or are we friends?_

_No, I only just learned her first name a couple hours ago, and I’m not even allowed to use it!_

_Besides, friends don’t look at each other like, like-_

Luz realized that she could find the right word to describe just _how_ the archangel looked at her.

_She’s an enigma with white wings._

In her distraction, Luz nearly ran into a tree, but Viney caught her arm for the second time tonight and pulled her out of the way.

“Wow, you are really out of it. Did you catch Blight fever or something?”

Luz either wanted to strangle herself or Viney.

“ _Shut up.”_

They continued walking, and she continued _thinking_ , although she’d rather wished that her mind was as tired as her body. Apparently all the energy she had went into dumb thoughts instead of more important places like her legs.

Several times, she tripped over tree roots or rocks, each time biting down a curse, and Viney just looked at her with concern.

_You might fare better if you watched the_ ground _instead of the back of Amity’s head._

After what felt like an eternity of misery, they reached the same clearing, and Luz sighed with relief, flopping down on the ground.

The archangel drew the relic out of her bag again, drawing another circle with it and murmuring an incantation. An itching sensation grew between Luz’s shoulder blades.

Around the clearing, all the angels wings reappeared, and their ears grew pointy once more, save for hers. 

She ruffled her rust colored wings, feeling a sense of relief that she didn’t know was missing, like her soul was returning to her body. 

The angels closest to Archangel Blight stepped back subconsciously, the return of her white wings further driving a wedge between her and the rest of the angels. Luz sighed.

_Guess she’s not Amity anymore._

Blight turned towards the rest of them, dark circles that Luz hadn’t noticed before hanging under her eyes.

“We’re heading back up now.”

For what felt like the hundredth time that night, gold eyes met brown. The archangel’s eyes flickered like fire, threatening to burn Luz as if she was an old piece of wood. 

_There it is, that weird intensity!_

_What in the heavens is that?_

She tore her eyes away, making her way into a standing position and rubbed her temples. As Luz spread her wings and took off after the rest of the angels, one thought bounced around in her head.

_Whatever this is, it’s certainly not allowed._

But, after all, Luz wasn’t good at following the rules. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some reasons why I am not vining rn
> 
> 1\. I am sunburnt. Like really, really sunburnt and everything hurts.  
> 2\. My best friend, the girl who I love most in this world, recently moved to a different country, and I guess the reality of the situation just caught up to me? Idk, I miss her so much, all the time.  
> 3\. My grandfather died yesterday of COVID, and my grandmother is in the hospital. We weren’t too terribly close, both of them live in a different state, but a death in the family always hurts. 3 out of my 4 grandparents are dead now, and I feel like I’m loosing everyone recently. Like, ffs, I’m telling this to a bunch of people who I don’t know because of how lonely I am. 
> 
> So, kids, if you see someone not wearing a mask, yell at them for me.


	8. Luz, you are an idiot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes yes I know I said I was gonna post this two days ago but I was sad and distracted and I didn’t want to post a half-assed chapter. 
> 
> Also thank you all so much for the well wishes, it honestly means the world to me that you guys care so much (and yes I am drinking water)
> 
> Also also yes I did change the chapter summary to a song, pls, it’s good, I swear.

Seeing the sun was a shock.

Luz squinted as the Isles came into view, late afternoon sun cresting behind the gates. As her group neared, they were pulled open by those massive chains, sunlight glinting off the reflective golden surface. Families littered the base of the gates.

Archangel Blight flew ahead and nodded to the guards, who inclined their heads in respect.

She landed in an impressive sort of way, almost putting on a show for the assembled angels. Luz scoffed to herself.

_Back to normal, I suppose._

Luz spotted a pair of familiar heads, scowl melting from her face as she recognized Willow and Gus waiting for her. Her descent towards them was stopped, however, by a wolf-whistle from Viney.

“You never told me that Blight had a _sister!_ ”

Turning her head towards where Viney was looking, Luz spotted a pair of green-haired archangels who looked like twins talking to Archangel Blight. They looked to be in their very early twenties, about the same as Viney. The sister in question wore her long green hair in a plait, while the brother just had messy waves, and both wore matching expensive looking clothes.

“Heavens, the Blight parents have some good genes.”

Luz grinned at the older angel, who already looked slightly smitten. Honestly, she couldn’t blame her.

“I will literally pay you if you say that to their faces.”

“A hundred snails says I get her number.”

“Bet?”

“Bet.”

The two shook hands, and with that they departed, Luz shaking her head ruefully. She was still grinning as she landed in front of Gus and Willow, pulling the both of them into a tight hug. As the three friends parted and Gus slapped her on the back in congratulations, Luz only smiled wider.

“How was the mission?”

“What’s got you so cheerful?”

Gus and Willow spoke at the same time and looked at each other, but Luz only laughed and slung her arms around their shoulders. 

“I’ll tell you about it later, it’s a _super_ long story and you’ll probably want snacks. And, you see Viney over there, the angel I was talking to?”

She gestured over her shoulder, and the two of them nodded.

“Well, she’s going to attempt to ask out Archangel Blight’s sister, and I’m about to be a hundred snails richer.”

Gus and Willow both doubled over laughing, drawing the attention of families around them, while the Blights remained oblivious. After what felt like a solid minute, Luz having joined in the laughter after a bit, the three of them straightened up and attempted to compose themselves. Gus ran a hand through his curls and watched the interaction take place with interest.

“Wow, your new friend is _insane_. She does know that angels and archangels aren’t allowed to date, right?”

Willow smirked and adjusted her glasses, looking up just in time to see the youngest Blight flush a deep tomato red.

“Yeah, Amity doesn’t seem happy about this.”

“I know! That’s why-”

Luz cut off as Willow’s words fully processed. She looked at her friend strangely, who was still watching the Blights, unaware that she’d said anything amiss.

“I never told you her name.”

The raven haired angel looked at her, smirk fading into confusion and then something that resembled panic. Willow swallowed and fixed her glasses, refusing to meet Luz’s eyes.

“You must’ve.”

Gus finally caught onto their conversation and also looked at Willow with slight interest.

“I’m pretty sure she didn’t.”

Both of them stared at their friend as she refused to meet either of their eyes, mouth downturned as she watched the Blights with a new intensity. After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, Willow sighed and turned back to them.

“Guys, not right now. It’s a long story.”

Luz opened her mouth to protest, but Viney suddenly appeared next to them, a wild blush painted across her cheeks. She smiled goofily and held up a small slip of paper, grinning like a madman.

“Heya, squirt! Guess what I got.”

Luz looked at the older angel in disbelief, mouth falling open and momentarily forgetting about Willow.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Dead serious, I’m afraid. Cough it up!”

“Viney, I haven’t _got_ a hundred snails!”

The angel laughed, patting Luz on the shoulder sympathetically, blush still as prominent as ever. She fiddled with her fish hook earring, glancing back towards the archangel family. The elder sister waved to Viney, a smile visible on her face even from this distance. Amity looked murderous.

“If it makes you feel any better, I wasn’t cool about it at all. How’s this, you pay up once I check that it’s not fake?”

Luz pretended to think, tapping her chin, but then popped Viney with the double finger-guns.

“You’ve got yourself a deal, amiga!”

Gus bounced on his feet as excitement stretched across his face at the use of the Spanish word.

“Friend! That one means friend!”

Willow sighed and face palmed, ruffling her feathers in slight annoyance.

“Please tell me that Viney isn’t also a human fanatic.”

Both Luz and Viney laughed at that, but Luz noticed the relief slowly breaking through on Willow features and wagged a finger at her friend.

“You are _not_ off the hook yet.”

The raven haired angel groaned and rubbed her temples while Viney looked a little lost.

“What’d I miss?”

~~~

The trio had eventually departed, the older angel making her excuses, though Luz suspected that she was sneaking off to message Blight’s sister.

_Is it really that easy?_

At seventeen, she knew next to nothing about love. Granted, Viney was only a few years older than her, but she still seemed to have a much better grasp on the concept than her. For heaven's sake, she’d asked an _archangel_ for her number.

Being half-human, people were often weirded out by her rounded ears. Though they didn’t know the truth, there was always an aversion towards Luz from her peers growing up, and so she’d never made any friends other than Gus and Willow. 

This didn’t really leave many options open for dating.

Besides, Luz was happier to read a book than go to a party, get intoxicated, and kiss random angels while playing spin the bottle or something.

Speaking of books, she’d dragged her two friends to the public library right after they’d left, a thought nagging at the back of her head. Currently, a book about fallen angels rested on the table she sat at with Willow, who was reading a book on gardening while throwing her sheepish glances. Gus was off a ways away, probably looking for something about human artifacts again.

Luz returned her attention to the page in front of her, re-reading the lengthy paragraph in front of her slowly.

_Fallen angels are rare creatures. At their very essence, they are fallen, having been banished to Earth from the angel realm. One might become fallen by coercing with demons, speaking out strongly against archangels, or committing unspeakable acts of violence. An angel who exhibits fallen behavior will be called to the council, where they will be judged and cast out if found guilty. The following process is gruesome and unsightly, for the angel’s wings will be removed by knife, without magic or numbing agent. If they survive, the fallen angel is then thrown to Earth, forever cast out of angel society. Many of the fallen kill themselves, unable to live without their wings and their pride._

Luz shuddered at that sentence, but continued to read.

_The fallen retain their other angelic features, such as the pointed ears and ability to cast miracles, though their magic is considerably weakened. Oftentimes, those who survive live on the outskirts of society, associating with next to no one. Though, it has been found that the fallen find amity with the local demon population, having a shared hatred of angels._

She re-read that sentence again, and then again, narrowing in on a specific word.

_….the fallen find amity with the local demon population….. find amity with the local demon…. find amity…. amity… amity…. amity._

Luz growled with frustration and slammed her fist on the table, causing Willow to glance up with concern, but she ignored her and read the sentence once more.

_Even here, I’m unable to escape from her._

  
  


_Golden eyes, cold and hard, yet still holding a trace of vulnerability._

_“Does it matter?”_

  
  


She shook her head in an attempt to clear her thoughts and touched the word, murmuring an incantation. The surrounding words blurred, and the definition of amity appeared on the page.

am·i·ty

/ˈamədē/

noun FORMAL

noun: amity

_a friendly relationship._

_"international amity and goodwill"_

Luz wasn’t aware that she’d read it outloud until a sigh was heard across the table.

“Luz.”

She looked up to find Willow staring at her, book forgotten and eyes narrowed, small frown on her face.

“I said that I’d tell you later, and I’m not ready yet, so can you please respect my boundaries?”

“Willow, wait-”

The angel stood up without another word and shut her book with a thud, walking towards the exit.

Luz watched her leave, mind a couple steps behind, but slammed her head on the table after it caught up with her.

_Pendeja!_

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mmmmm I’m teasing backstory but was also too lazy to write it because I knew it would end up being 1000+ words and I was already at like 1200 so ehh. But I really vibe with the second half of this chapter for some reason *shrugs*


	9. Love? No, I must be insane.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: BLOOD AND MILD SELF HARM
> 
> As much as I love Luz, I couldn’t resist writing a chapter from Amity’s perspective, and jeeze, get this girl some therapy 
> 
> Also, I wrote this entire thing to My Ordinary Life, which uhhhhh, is probably why this got soooooo :(
> 
> https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MURua52_YPg

**Amity’s POV**

_ Thud. _

_ Thud. _

_ Thud. _

The sound of her fists hitting a punching bag echoed around the empty training room. With each blow, Amity’s knuckles ached a little bit more.

_ Thud. _

_ Thud. _

_ Thud. _

She slammed her fists into the bag with furious hits, sweat beading down her forehead and soaking into her shirt. 

_ Thud. _

_ Thud. _

_ Thud. _

With each hit, the bag jumped and swung on its chain. Amity’s breath grew labored as she continued to pound away, but she refused to stop, refused to let herself think.

She knew what would consume her thoughts if she stopped.

_ Thud. _

_ Thud. _

_ Thud. _

On that last strike, the skin on her knuckles split, and Amity felt a trickle of blood run down her hand and mix with the sweat. 

She sighed and relaxed her stance. Miracling a roll of bandages from nowhere, she methodically wrapped her hands, repeating her mantra. 

_ Physical pain blocks out the emotional pain. _

It would be easier to heal her hands, Amity never took the easy way out. That was another mantra of hers.

She turned her attention back to the bag, envisioning not a canvas sack but a horde of demons. Furrowing her eyebrows, the archangel let out war cry and continued her assault on the punching bag.

In these moments, it was almost easy to block out  _ her. _

Amity swung her leg up and hit the sack dead on, causing it quake and jump, chain groaning in protest.

  
  


_ I’m an archangel. _

_ Thud. _

_ I’m a Blight. _

_ Thud. _

_ I have a bright future by Archangel Belos’s side. _

_ Thud. _

_ I’m happy. _

_ Thud. _

Her knuckles screamed in protest as Amity kept punching, technique growing sloppy with exhaustion. She reigned her focus in, trying,  _ trying  _ so hard not to think about the angel.

_ She’s nothing really. _

_ Thud. _

_ Nothing to me. _

_ Thud. _

_ Nothing but an angel that has a small talent with a sword. _

_ Thud. _

_ Nothing but an angel with odd ears, hair that looks so fluffy and  _ soft, _ chocolate eyes that could melt the stoniest hearts… _

_ THUD. _

Amity slammed her palm into the bag, breath coming in shuddering gasps. Her head hurt, her hands hurt, her heart heart.

She could feel it, could feel herself spiraling, and she focused on the red slowly staining her bandages.

_ Why? _

_ Why her? _

_ Why didn’t I just get rid of her when I had the chance? _

Amity took a slow breath.

_ In.  _

_ Out. _

_ Physical pain blocks out the emotional pain. _

She clenched her fists, knuckles crying out in agony.

_ Physical pain blocks out the emotional pain. _

She clenched her teeth, fangs biting into her bottom lip.

_ Physical pain blocks out the emotional pain. _

The quiet that had settled over the room was broken by sobs. White wings drooped as the archangel cried, tears mixing in with the blood and sweat staining the floor.

~~~

_ Amity knew that she shouldn’t be down this far. Angels watched her with a mixture of awe and fear as she crossed the sidewalk, making way towards the nearby café. She just couldn’t handle any other archangels right now, so sick of their superior attitude towards those who they saw as lesser. _

_ It was hypocritical, but Amity was good at lying to herself. _

_ More angels stared at her as she joined the line that stretched out the door. They seemed unsure of what to do, and Amity shared their thoughts. _

**_Should I wait in line?_ **

_ Whatever the case, she waited and eventually reached the counter, where a wide-eyed angel younger than her took her order. The drink came almost immediately, which Amity was both thankful for and disgusted by. _

**_I shouldn’t be worth more than these people._ **

_ She should’ve looked. _

_ An angel crashed into her, having caught an errant discus, sending both of them to the ground. A warm, callused hand rested on her arm as the angel stuttered out an apology. _

_ “I’m sorry-” _

_ The words died on the angel’s lips as brown eyes met Amity’s own. She watched the angel’s eyes flick towards her wings, face growing pale, and felt the hand removed from her arm like she was made of flame. _

_ The crowd around them grew quiet as she watched her drink run down the sidewalk.  _

_ Unable to find an apology of her own, Amity miracled the spill away and turned towards the angel. _

_ “Next time, watch where you’re going.” _

_ The archangel disappeared into the sky before any other words were exchanged, praying to the heavens that she’d forget this. _

_ Of course, the moment was seared into her mind permanently. _

_ ~~~ _

_ Amity scowled at the sheet in front of her. _

**_Whoever Luz Noceda is, they’re going to have hell to pay for being late._ **

_ Almost the moment that the thought registered, an angel barged through the door, stuttering out apologies. She raised her head, and froze, eyes locking with the angel’s. _

**_No…_ **

_ Amity forced her lips to move, forced her face to betray nothing. Angel Noceda nodded frantically, those chocolate eyes holding a glimpse of fear in them.  _

_ She hated herself for it. _

_ She forced herself not to watch the angel take her seat. She made herself address the group, made herself ignore the stares.  _

_ Amity broke, snapping at Noceda to be quiet. Their eyes met again, and the fear was still there.  _

_ She hated herself for it.  _

_ When it was so very obvious that the angel was spacing out, she hated that she didn’t have the willpower to call her out again. The words died on her lips every time that she tried to speak them, to reprimand this  _ so blatantly  _ disrespectful angel. _

**_Weak._ **

_ When the group had moved outside and Amity had so easily beaten that arrogant angel, she’d seen the fear in Noceda’s eyes. _

_ When she’d called the angel forward, she’d seen the panic written across her face. _

_ It made Amity feel sick. _

_ When Noceda fell to the ground and held back the archangel’s glaive with her sword, Amity had seen the fear in her eyes, but also a glimmer of determination. _

_ When she’d reached down and grasped the angel’s hand, to assure Noceda that Amity wasn’t going to hurt her, she’d seen the fear disappear and replaced with relief. An unfamiliar sensation swooped in her stomach. _

_ It didn’t take Amity long to figure out what it was. _

_ ~~~ _

_ On Earth, in that godforsaken bar, she had practically felt the nerves radiating off of Angel Noceda.  _

_ Amity wanted nothing more than to rest her hand on the angel’s shoulder, to reassure her. But the truth was, she was just as nervous as Noceda. _

_ Maybe she was the one wanting the comfort of the angel’s presence. _

_ When the angel had disappeared down a dim hallway, Amity felt a great sense of unease. Against her better judgement, she’d followed the angel down a stairway that had appeared out of nowhere. _

_ Amity had felt the waves of fear herself when she glanced around the corner and spotted a horde of demons. _

_ In her panic, she’d slipped up. _

_ “Amity?” _

_ Her name said in Luz’s voice was almost too much. At that moment, she knew that she was falling. _

_ She couldn’t afford to fall. _

_ But like any masochist, Amity kept testing how much she could take before she shattered. _

_ When she’d found Luz- _

_ When did she start calling the angel Luz? _

_ Anyway, when she’d found Luz face to face with two angry demons, Amity snapped again.  _

_ “Luz, step back.” _

_ The angel had obeyed, for once, and Amity poured every ounce of fury into her threats. By some miracle, it worked, and both angel and archangel emerged unscathed. _

_ Later, Amity realized that she had been willing to give her own life for the angel, as long as it meant that Luz was safe. _

_ Rather heroic of a self-centered, holier-than-thou archangel. _

**_What would mother say?_ **

_ Amity felt like she was losing her mind.  _

_ Maybe she was. _

_ It would explain this, this  _ thing  _ in her chest every time she looked at the angel. It would explain why her heart felt like it was about to explode when the angel fixed her with that warm gaze, those chocolate eyes melting a block of ice behind her sternum.  _

_ Insanity was a better option, Amity thought, compared to falling for an angel. _

_ Love was a sickness, it ruined lives and brought heartbreak to those it infected. Better to claim insanity, then to admit to the feeling in her chest. _

_ But Amity couldn’t lie to herself forever. _

_ She couldn’t lie, and say that there was nothing there. _

_ The only thing Amity knew, is that she’d never be the cause of the fear in Luz’s eyes again. _

_ Not ever. _

_ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I said there would be angst :)


	10. A surprisingly peaceful moment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A surprisingly peaceful moment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here’s some more information about this AU since I can’t find a way to properly incorporate it into this story.
> 
> Basically, angels and archangels attend school until 16, archangels are separated into this dumb fancy school I guess (y’all idk). When they graduate, they can attend missions or internships or continue with extra schooling (like Gus is doing because he graduated with the girls and is a nerd). At school, combat, miracle casting, angel and human history are taught, plus other electives like healing and gardening for instance. Just a reminder, Luz and Willow are 17, Gus is 15, Amity is newly 18, the twins are 20, and Viney is newly 21.

**Luz’s POV**

**Luz 10:50 pm:** hey, willow. im sorry about earlier

**Luz 10:52 pm:** let me know if you want to talk

  
  


**Willow 11:01 pm:** I overreacted anyway, but thanks 

**Willow 11:02 pm:** Let's meet at the park tomorrow morning

**Willow 11:02 pm:** 10:30 sound good to you?

  
  


**Luz 11:03 pm:** yeah! see you tmrw

  
  


~~~

The sun hung high and bright in the sky, rays beating down on Luz as she landed next to the park. A bead of sweat ran down her forehead, a testament to the unusually hot day.

Despite the heat, several angels clustered in the park, playing discus or having a picnic. As they flew past her, Luz unconsciously shied away from the little clay discs, reminded of that day by the café.

Which of course, led her to think about Amity, which led her to think about why she was here in the first place.

_I hope Willow gives me more than a half-baked explanation._

Speaking of the angel, Luz spotted her beneath an oak, sitting in the shade of its trunk reading a book. When Willow noticed her approaching, she closed her book and gave a small wave. Her expression was both apologetic and sheepish.

“Hey, Luz”

“I hope you’re ready to talk, because I’m about to grill you three ways from Sunday.”

The angel raised an eyebrow, looking more confused than annoyed. Luz sighed, plopping down next to Willow.

“Human expression.”

She gave a little hum of understanding, and a silence fell between the two friends. It wasn’t uncomfortable, but Luz had been itching for information since yesterday, and being kept in the dark wasn’t her favorite feeling.

“So, what’d you want to know?”

Luz inhaled, words tumbling out and over each other.

“How do you know my commander? Why do you hate archangels so much? Why isn’t Gus here? Did she hurt you somehow? Because if she hurt you I’ll kick her ass.”

The raven haired angel let out a sudden laugh, any lingering tension between the two of them dissolved. She sat up straighter, feathers catching against the bark of the oak.

“Number one is a long story. Number two is also long, and a lot more complicated. Number three, Gus has school, dummy. Number four… I mean, I guess she did. Number five, I would pay good money to see you try.”

Luz practically whined, smacking her on the shoulder and pouting. 

“I hope you plan on elaborating, because I would’ve hated to come all this way just for that _tiny_ bit of explanation.”

The angel sighed, breath fluttering her hair in the silence. Luz’s knee bounced impatiently, a contrast to Willow’s stillness. She felt a hand on her knee, and found her friend looking at her with an unreadable expression. Luz forced her leg to stop moving.

Willow huffed.

“Stop _wiggling_. You’re making _me_ nervous.”

“Sorry.”

The tip of the angel’s wing ticked her shoulder, dark feathers gleaming in the sun.

“So, where to start.”

Luz shrugged, trying to seem noncommittal.

“I’ve heard that the beginning is a good place.”

Willow scoffed.

“Stop being cheeky.”

“Sorry.”

A sigh sounded in the warm air, the angel apparently steeling herself for the story.

“So, when I was seven, my dads went on this top secret and apparently very important mission with a massive group of angels and archangels alike. They never told me what it was about, but they did tell me that Alador and Odalia Blight led the mission.”

Luz looked at Willow quizzically.

“Amity’s parents, Luz.”

“Oh.”

“Anyway, since this was during summer break and there was no school, a lot of the angels who had kids entrusted them to this day care like place that takes care of kids while their parents were away.”

“I know, my mom used to leave me there when I was younger and she had to pick up extra shifts.”

“Okay, so you get the idea. There were like twenty kids there, and Amity and I were among them. I think her siblings were there too, but they were in a different age group.”

Luz hummed, and waved for Willow to continue when she looked over.

“That first day, I was so scared, I remember that. All the other kids were bigger than me, and my wings hadn’t started growing in yet, so I was sort of an outcast. But, when I saw Amity sitting by herself, all the other angels giving her a wide berth, I felt so bad. So I walked over to her and asked if she wanted to be friends.”

“Aww, that’s so cute! Being the only angel to befriend a lonely archangel. Sounds like something out of a story.”

Willow looked slightly aghast, peering over the tops of her glasses to glare at Luz. She felt her cheeks heat up a little.

“Luz, I was _seven._ I had no idea what I was getting myself into.”

“Sorry, I’ll be quiet now.”

“As I was saying, I befriended Amity. The two of us spent nearly eight hours a day together, for a _month._ A month, Luz. I thought she hung the stars in the sky. She was the coolest person I’d ever met.”

Luz looked skyward, watching how the sun broke through the yellowing leaves, beams of light hitting her face. A sudden sadness settled on her chest.

“I have a feeling this doesn’t end well.”

“Very astute of you to assume so.”

“Is that sarcasm?”

“Probably.”

She felt her face split into a smile, aware that Willow was watching her apprehensively.

“One day, the last day of my dads’ mission actually, Amity refused to talk to me. I kept following her around, and she wouldn’t even look at me. I eventually gave up and sat in a corner. By the time the end of the day rolled around, she _very_ publicly told me that “an archangel of her status” was too good for an angel like me. One who hadn’t even molted yet. One who couldn’t even perform the simplest miracle. I went home in tears.”

Luz watched her face fall, wings drooping ever so slightly, eyes misting over. She hurriedly reached over and wrapped the angel in a big hug, surprising her. Willow returned the gesture, hands clutching Luz’s shirt in a tight embrace.

When the two pulled away, she watched a tear run down her friend’s face. She quickly reached up and wiped it away with her sleeve.

“Thank you.”

They settled back against the tree, black and rusty brown wings brushing against each other. The silence between them was deafening, but the sun warmed any coldness that might’ve been there.

“You know, you’re a pain in my neck, Noceda.”

Luz grinned, resting her head on Willow’s shoulder, relaxing as she breathed in the familiar scent of herbs on her skin.

“Always, Park. You know you love me, though.”

And so, if the angel ended up dozing off like that while Willow read her book, a small smile on her face, no one said anything about it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is sweet, but it’s kinda making me cry a little because the interaction between them reminds me of my friend who left for Canada and I...... like Willow and her are literally the same person my god.
> 
> Also, I’m getting a little bit of a vibe from Willow, y’all getting a vibe? Like a vibe..... vibe
> 
> *cough cough*
> 
> Luz may or not be a dumbass
> 
> P.S. if you leave a kudo I’ll give you a kiss, and if you make fan art I’ll literally marry you.


	11. Penpals? Penpals.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not me dropping this fic and writing two other ones in the span of a week 😌 (which you should totally read btw).
> 
> But, I’ve got a day off tomorrow because of the election so you’ll definitely (probably) get another chapter.

When Luz received  _ the letter,  _ she nearly had a heart attack. There wasn’t a better explanation, after all, for why her heart was attempting to jump out of her throat.

Her insides felt like they were tying themselves into a complicated knot as she read the small, neat handwriting crammed onto expensive parchment.

  
  


_ To Luz Noceda, _

_ In regards to our previous mission, Archangel Belos has given us permission to continue our investigation of the bar. He also wishes to find out more about the individuals named Eda and King.  _

_ I was hoping, having been there to witness the scene, that you would accompany me again on another reconnaissance mission. I have also asked your friend, Viney Griffin, to join us at my sister’s… insistence. She did quite well during trials though, and should be an asset in case any trouble arises. _

_ Also, I suppose that it might be nice for you to have the company of someone who you enjoy being around, and puts you at ease. I’m aware that we haven’t been on the best of terms. _

_ In any sense, I do ask you to refrain from calling me by my first name in her presence, as I wouldn’t want Angel Griffin to get any wrong ideas. Or, heavens forbid, my sister, since the two of them have been in such close correspondence lately. _

_ I’ve already sent a letter to Angel Griffin regarding this mission, and I hope to hear back from the both of you by Saturday. Please send your return letter to the address on the envelope. _

_ Regards,  _ ~~_ Amity _ ~~

_ Archangel Blight _

  
  


Luz lost track of how many times she read through the letter, trying to decipher any hidden meanings in it. There were a couple things that she’d concluded, however, by her fourth or fifth read-through.

One, Viney had most certainly been in contact with Amity’s sister, much to her disappointment.

_ Guess I have to find a way to cough up a hundred snails. _

Two, and this a bit troubling, Amity thought that Luz wasn’t comfortable being alone with her. 

She sighed, dragging a hand down her face.

It wasn’t that she was uncomfortable with the archangel, it was just… uncomfortable wasn’t the right word. It was like an upset balance of power between them. Almost like, if there was anything Amity asked her to do, she’d feel obligated to obey her. 

It was partly, Luz now realized, why she insisted on calling Amity by her first name. Sort of a way to bring her down to Luz’s level, to remove her from the pedestal all archangels were born upon. 

She’d have to find a way to tell Amity this, but the idea made her stomach squirm. And in addition, there was the side of Amity that Willow had told her about, the harsh and cruel side.

So really, Luz thought that the archangel deserved an ego check.

Thirdly, the most terrifying realization was that she had been summoned for another mission back to Earth. 

She was going back to that, that  _ place,  _ with its gasoline and cigarette fumes burning her nostrils, with so much fear in the air that she could almost taste it. 

Luz did appreciate the archangel caring about her enough to include Viney, out of all the angels, in the mission. It did make her feel a bit better knowing that her funny, and physically intimidating, friend would be there. 

Jolting out her thoughts, she sat down at her desk and grabbed an errant pen, tapping it against her teeth as she tried to write up a response.

Several crumpled pieces of paper later, this was what she’d come up with. 

  
  


_ Amity, _

_ I’ve given it some thought, and I’ve decided to accept your invitation. I’m just as curious as you what those demons were up to, and I’d be happy to attend another mission. _

_ Okay, now that all the formalities are out of the way, I thought you should know a couple of things. _

_ First off, I was doing some research in the library the other day, and I’m pretty sure that Eda is a fallen angel. She seems to fit most of the qualities of one, so I thought that you should hear my take.  _

_ Secondly, you should be glad that Viney is coming as well, because I have a bone to pick with you and she might have to hold me back. _

_ (I’m kidding… sort of. But I am making you apologize to Willow the next time you two are in the same space together. It doesn’t matter that it was ten years ago, you still hurt my best friend.) _

~~_ By the way, you don’t make me uncomfortable, it’s just complicated. _ ~~

_ Also I’m pretty sure I’ve never written a letter before, so this was new. _

_ I’m not sure what to put here, _

_ Luz :) _

  
  


Well, it was good enough.

~~~

**Amity’s POV**

The archangel felt physically ill as she read Luz’s return letter.

She’d been expecting one, but it hadn’t really prepared her for the words that had now been re-read over and over again. 

_ Willow… _

Amity hadn’t thought about the raven haired angel in forever, mainly because she’d never had a reason to. She’d chalked up that whole mess as an unavoidable event, something that seemed bound to happen.

After all, what other thing could have possibly ended up occurring?

Common angels were unfit to socialize with Blights.

By her parent’s standards, anyhow.

She wondered what they would think of Luz.

_ Willow… Luz… Willow… Luz. _

Amity’s head throbbed.

For heaven's sake, even her luck couldn’t have been this bad. There must’ve been some curse on her, for both angels she’d ever been the least bit attached to, to know each other.

_ Best friends, she’d said.  _

_ What could Willow have told her? Everything? _

_ She must hate me.  _

_ But…  _

Amity rubbed her temples, gritting her teeth as she paced her room, letter clutched tightly in her fist. She read the last bit again, brows furrowing at the  _ infernal _ smiley face that Luz apparently decided was an appropriate endnote.

_ Was she being sarcastic? _

_ Is she purposefully trying to drive me insane? _

In any case, Amity wasn’t even trying to decipher what Luz meant by Eda being a fallen angel, because that was a whole other nightmare. If it was true, and the angel was indeed correct in her bold assumptions, then she’d have an even bigger mess on her hands. 

If a fallen angel and a demon were working together… 

_ This is how uprisings start.  _

Amity was no stranger to the glares that angels gave her whenever she visited lower islands. She was accustomed to the hateful words they said behind her back, thinking that she couldn’t hear them. 

But they had no idea what it was like to be an archangel.

They had no idea how hard her kind worked to keep  _ all  _ angels safe, to protect both angel kind and humanity. 

It was her dream, from the time she’d known what dreams were, to be the greatest archangel commander that’s ever lived. To fight side by side with Archangel Belos, keeping the demons at bay.

In hindsight, it was both ridiculous and slightly egotistical, but Amity still wanted to be a commander, to lead her own troop of angels and become someone that people looked up to.

To live up to the Blight name.

But look at her now, stressing over a couple angels and worrying about a possible demon uprising.

_ A bit pathetic, “world’s greatest commander”. _

“Shut up, me.”

With a heavy sigh, she sat down at her desk and grabbed a spare sheath of paper. 

_ Angel Noceda, _

_ I’m glad that you’ve decided to accept my invitation. _

_ I was unaware that Willow and you were friends, but if it makes you feel better, I’ll apologize to her. It sounds like an excuse, but I didn’t expect my actions to still affect her so deeply. After all, we were kids. _

That was a blatant lie.

Amity scoffed, headache returning, and continued to write.

_ I’ll assess your fallen angel theory when we gather more observations on Eda. For everyone’s sake, I hope that you are incorrect.  _

_ You’ll receive a summons soon. _

_ And for heaven’s sake, smiley faces are not appropriate endnotes, for future reference.  _

_ Regards, _

_ Archangel Blight _

Perhaps her pounding head would go away after a good night’s rest. Somehow, she doubted so.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mmmmm.
> 
> Ah yes, emotional plot.
> 
> I need to get this fic moving so expect next chapter to have goodies in it ;)


	12. Jealousy burns like flame

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *singsong voice* 
> 
> OooOoo iT lOoKs LiKe SoMeoNeS jEloUs
> 
> OR WHO KNOWS ITS ALL UP TO HOW YALL INTERPRET IT 😈

**Luz’s POV**

The Angel’s Gates were just as magnificent as the last time she’d seen them.

Almost as magnificent as the awkward spectacle unfolding in front of her.

Willow and Amity faced each other, tension evident to any passerby that might’ve also witnessed the scene. The archangel seemed _extremely_ uncomfortable, and her friend, for lack of a better word, looked _pissed._

“It’s er… it’s been a while, Willow.”

“It certainly has, _Amity._ ”

Luz would be lying if she said that she didn’t enjoy the sight of her commander sweating bullets, just a little bit. 

Willow stood facing the archangel, hands on her hips, scowl that’d appeared when she first spotted Amity unceasing in its intensity.

The archangel rubbed the back of her neck, golden eyes meeting everything except Willow’s own.

“I understand that it’s been many years, and we were kids… which doesn’t excuse my actions! But, I wanted to… apologize.”

Her friend cupped a hand to her ear, sarcasm evident in the motion.

“What was that?”

Amity sighed, finally looking the raven haired angel in the eyes.

“I’m sorry for saying that you were unfit to be my friend. I was… wrong.”

Willow hummed once, scowl fading slightly as she judged the sincerity of Amity’s apology.

“What made you change your mind?”

“I’m sorry?”

“I said, what made you change your mind?”

The archangel’s cheeks suddenly flushed a light pink, surprising Luz. She rubbed the back of her neck again, gaze becoming unfocused. 

“Lu- Angel Noceda helped me see where I was wrong.”

_I did?_

_What’s that supposed to mean?_

Something like understanding dawned on Willow’s face, while she remained oblivious and very confused to the archangel’s words.

In what felt like the blink of an eye, the raven haired angel wrapped an arm around Luz and pressed a gentle, fleeting kiss on her cheek. As quickly as it happened, Willow pulled away, the corners of her mouth just slightly upturned.

Something shifted between Amity and the two of them. Any previous tension that might’ve been dissolved returned, and thickened.

It felt like an unspoken challenge had been declared.

Luz, feeling numb, absentmindedly reached up and touched her cheek.

“You better not try anything funny, Amity.”

The archangel’s eyes narrowed, a glint appearing in them. She answered back just as coolly.

“Don’t worry, I’ll return your _best friend_ to you in one piece.”

Willow nodded at her once, before turning to Luz, giving her a smile and a little wave. She returned the gesture as the angel spread her wings and took off, still very confused.

Luz jumped as another angel landed next to her. In her haze, it took her a second to realize that it was just Viney. The angel clutched a cup of nectar, flashing Luz a peace sign as a cheeky grin appeared on her face.

“Oi, Noceda! Hope you have my money, because I saw this book on mythical creatures that I _really_ want to buy and my check for the last mission hasn’t come in yet.”

She shook her head, and despite the angel’s teasing, felt an easy smile appear on her face. The remnants of Willow’s and Amity’s conversation briefly vanished from her mind.

“Well, Griffin, I _would_ pay you, but I still don’t have a single snail to spare.”

Viney pouted and took a sip of her drink.

“I’m going to start charging interest on this.”

“Please don’t.”

Amity- no. This wasn’t Amity.

Archangel Blight strode towards them, evident cold fury bubbling just under her skin. She fixed Viney with a glare.

“Angel Griffin, hurry up and finish your drink. No nectar allowed on Earth.”

The words were clipped with annoyance, and the archangel didn’t even glance at Luz as she walked away.

“Heavens, what’s got her all riled up?”

The angel just took another sip of nectar, fixing Luz with a curious look.

“Er…”

_What was it Willow said that got under her skin like this?_

“Angel Griffin.”

“Okay, okay! I’m almost done.”

Viney hurriedly chugged the rest of her cup, before miracling it away. She motioned towards the archangel, and Luz just gave a little shrug, the older angel sighing. 

Luz really wished her head would stop spinning.

~~~

“Does Earth actually have daytime?”

It was a lame way to break the silence, but Luz was growing tired of the tension between the three of them.

Archangel Blight had been silent on the flight down, and had said nothing as she miracled their wings away once more. Viney had even kept quiet, apparently not wanting to get on Blight’s nerves anymore.

“Yes, Luz.”

The angel’s response was flat, which she took as a sign to shut up.

They walked along the same path as they’d taken before, only now their footfalls were much softer, a luxury of only having three people as opposed to ten. Still unused to the filth of Earth, Luz watched the archangel wrinkle her nose at piles of trash littered among the trees.

It was quiet here, at least.

As they reached a familiar road, she realized that the journey was almost over, time having flown by despite the uncomfortable silence. It certainly beat her half-awake stumbling last time, mind preoccupied with thoughts of a certain archangel.

_Cold, golden eyes softened with vulnerability._

Okay, so maybe that part was still the same.

Crossing the road, Luz could now make out the dingy neon sign of Juniors in the distance. Squinting, she could see forms of some humans clustered around the entrance. As opposed to the abandoned nature of the bar before, it seemed vibrant, almost lively.

“We’ll go around the side again.”

The archangel’s tone left no room for discussion.

Dutifully, the two angels followed her through the small door when they reached the bar, and Luz was struck with a sudden sense of deja vu. 

The three of them now stood in a back room, listening to the pounding of cheap music around them. 

“Split up. We’ll cover more space that way.”

Luz frowned.

_Is she serious?_

“Look what happened last time we did that, though.”

Blight’s eyes burned into hers, cutting through her with a sharp glare. 

“Are you questioning me, Angel Noceda?”

Luz averted her eyes, shame flooding her chest. She was in no position to question the archangel, especially when Amity was acting like this. Cold and ruthless.

“No, Archangel Blight.”

“Then pick someon- _a side._ Pick the side where you want to search _._ ”

Viney had watched the whole interaction without cutting in, surprisingly passive. The older angel, sensing that someone was about to snap, spoke up.

“I’ll go with you, Archangel Blight, and we can look for Eda and King in the crowd. Angel Noceda can search the back rooms.”

The archangel nodded curtly towards Viney, motioning for her to follow. She glanced back at Luz, a sympathetic expression on her face, and followed Blight.

And so she was left, alone, in a cold and creepy bar.

Luz kicked an empty cardboard box in disgust, at herself, and at the archangel.

_I really thought she was changing._

_Guess not._

She left the room and stalked down the back halls. Briefly considering going down to the secret basement, Luz faltered for a second.

In the absence of her footsteps, the angel heard a heavy creaking noise behind her. She whipped around, failing to see anything or anyone out of the ordinary, even in the dim lighting.

Slowly, very carefully, Luz crept down the hallway, listening closely for any errant sounds. Just when the angel was about to relax, to believe that she’d imagined it, the boards behind her creaked louder than before and a hand clamped over her mouth.

_Oh, fu-_

Unlike before, she instantly knew that it wasn’t Amity.

A grimy rag was held against her nose, a sweet smell invading her senses. She struggled against the person who held her, but their grip was much too tight to escape. The smell was making her head spin, making her thoughts feel foggy... 

Her struggles turned limp.

As she slipped into unconsciousness, Luz heard a vaguely familiar, slightly nasally voice speak.

“Guess chlorof or m w o r k s s s…..”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, this story could be happier.
> 
> HAHAHAHA no.
> 
> It can’t.
> 
> But, there is some hope for your poor, tormented souls. Eventually.


	13. The demon in the dining room

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear, y’alls comments crack me up. It’s so easy to tell who also ships Willuz 😂
> 
> Don’t worry, we’ll get back to that mess after this mess.
> 
> Also, song of the chapter is Hayloft by Mother Mother, I implore you to listen. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uABjJ17jiS0 (I like the slowed version better)

“..... _w i t h t h is on e we ird trick, you can_ lose the belly fat today!”

“King, I told you to stop reading those tabloids.”

Luz groaned.

As the angel’s eyes slowly fluttered open, and the spots cleared from her vision, Luz took in the stark difference of her surroundings. Opposed to the dim neon lighting of the bar, the place she was currently in was washed in a warm glow by the multitude of candles present.

She moved her head ever so slightly to see the rest of the space. It was akin to a shack, with low ceilings and made entirely out of wood. Mismatched pieces of furniture littered the place, what looked like a mix of plastic lawn chairs and bean bags clustered around an ornate obsidian coffee table. An old, moldy couch sat in the corner, piled high with books and unidentifiable liquids in small glass jars.

And of course, there was the demon at the dining table, reading a newspaper.

Luz sat at one end of the table, assorted ropes and chains restraining her to a spindly wicker chair. The demon sat at the opposite end, reclined in what could be only described as a gilded throne. 

As some of the fog cleared from her mind, Luz recognized him as the same demon who’d given the speech.

_King._

He wore the same outfit, despite the long trench coat draped over the back of his throne, and his red glasses rested on the table. The demon's eyes flicked up to meet hers, revealing a terrifying mix of purple and gold surrounding his pupils.

Luz might’ve screamed had a gag not been in her mouth.

As her heart rate continued to increase, King merely sighed and called over his shoulder.

“Hey, witch! Your captive is awake.”

That feminine voice echoed again from up the stairs, a set of rickety old things that barely qualified as stairs. 

“Well, keep her quiet. I’m doing my hair!”

He groaned, and turned back to his newspaper. Luz just watched him with wide, frightened eyes.

_This is how I die._

After a few uncomfortable minutes, King looked back up to her.

“Say, _angel,_ do you know anything about human celebrity gossip?”

Luz didn’t answer.

_Murdered by a tabloid-loving demon._

The stairs creaked, revealing a woman with a certified _mane_ of fiery red hair cascading down her shoulders, reaching to the small of her back. As she reached the bottom and turned towards the two of them, Luz’s heart leapt out of her chest and into her throat. 

_Eda._

It was indeed the same woman as before, from the tattered red dress to her single golden canine.

“Look at this. A real life angel! Kid, I haven’t seen one of your kind in this cesspit for ages.”

The woman grinned, but it didn’t seem sinister.

“Let’s get this gag out of your mouth so I can figure out why the hell you’re following us.”

The piece of cloth in question flew out of her mouth and directly into King’s face, which he let fall off of in disgust. Luz almost immediately let out an indignant cry, spitting onto the floor to remove the grimy taste.

“Hey, watch the floors! I just cleaned.”

She glared at Eda.

“You drug me. You kidnap me. You gag me. You chain me to this _very_ uncomfortable chair, and now you expect me to tell you the details of my mission!?”

The woman hummed.

“So you _are_ here on Belos’s orders. Good to know.”

Luz flushed.

_Shit._

Eda took a seat next to the demon, yanking the newspaper out of his hand and chucking it across the room, earning a yelp of complaint. She crossed her legs and looked at the angel inquisitively. Luz squirmed under her gaze. 

“Anything else you care to tell me?”

She stuck out her tongue, causing the woman to sigh and rub her temples.

“How about this, kid. You ask me something, and I ask you something. Fair?”

Luz remained silent.

_You could ask…_

_No, stay strong!_

“Kid, I haven’t got all day.”

“Are you a fallen angel!?”

_Well, alright, apparently I can’t keep my mouth shut._

Eda looked shocked for a second, then erupted into laughter, and after a few moments King let out a little snort as well. Eventually, the woman’s laughing fit died down, and she fixed Luz with a slightly impressed look.

“Well, it looks like you _do_ have a pair of eyes on you after all!”

She grinned, golden fang glowing in the candlelight.

“You’re about as close as you could’ve gotten by yourself.”

_Huh?_

Eda’s grin faded slightly, and she ran her fingers through her mane of hair. The demon stared at Luz, purple and gold eyes wide with interest.

“Pretty spot on actually.”

The candles flickered, as if affected by the woman’s sudden change in mood.

“Really, just add an _arch_ in front of angel, and you’re golden.”

_Did I… did I hear that right?_

_A fallen arch… angel?_

Eda’s wild grin had all but melted off her features, betraying the weary lines of her face. The sight made Luz have a strange revelation.

_She looks just like my mother does after a long day._

“You’re an archangel?”

The woman sighed. 

“More like I _was_ an archangel. You see-”

She shifted in her seat, giving Luz a view of her ordinary looking back.

“-no wings.”

Eda scowled, face twisting up like she’d smelled something unpleasant. The angel felt a little left behind, caught off guard by the sudden mood changes, like an inside joke she wasn’t a part of.

“But plenty of scars.”

Luz felt a sudden ache in her chest for the fallen archangel. Eda’s face changed once more, hiding and burying deep pain. She shrugged, noncommittal.

“My turn, kid.”

She felt her blood run cold.

_For a second, I almost forgot that she was my captor._

“Are you a half-breed? Half human, half angel, that is.”

_Oh._

Well, Luz certainly wasn’t expecting that.

“Believe me, I can see it. I’ve been around plenty of humans and angels alike, and you’re like neither of them.”

Her voice was quiet as she answered the woman.

“Yes, my father was human.”

Eda hummed again. King had pulled another newspaper out of heaven knows where, and wasn’t paying much attention to their conversation.

“You’re lucky your wings grew in. Most half-breeds are executed once Belos finds out about them.”

_There’s more?_

_I’m not alone?_

“But, you were one of the more fortunate ones.”

Eda picked at her nails, evidently unaware of the crisis Luz was currently having.

“I do believe it is your turn.”

_There are more half-angels like me?_

“Kid?”

Luz snapped her eyes up to meet the woman’s, shaking herself out of the daze that’d set in. Eda looked like she was about to laugh.

“If that little tidbit knocks your boots, then your head will probably explode with what I plan to tell you.”

_Is this real?_

_Am I having a stroke?_

Unable to come with a question out of the dozens rolling around in her mind, she echoed back Eda’s words.

“What do you plan on telling me?”

The fallen angel chuckled, leaning back in her chair. King merely hummed at what he was reading, too engrossed to give the so-called interrogation any attention.

“Hopping right into it then? Alright then, but you might want some popcorn for this story.”

_Is she serious?_

“My hands are literally tied behind my back.”

“Yeah, sorry about that.”

Luz glared at her again.

Eda cleared her throat awkwardly, eyes shifting up and then to the side, before meeting Luz’s own again. The intensity in them scared her. 

_Like Amity’s._

_Oh…_

_Amity!_

Because of this whole kidnapping business, she’d completely forgotten about the archangel, and Viney as well.

_They’re probably worried sick about me…_

~~~

**Amity’s POV**

_Where is she?_

The archangel paced around the room, concerned looks from Archangel Griffin barely phasing her. 

“She could be following them somewhere?”

“Or…”

Amity whipped around and glared at the angel, who promptly fell silent.

_Where could you have gone, Luz?_

_If anyone, or anything hurt you, I’ll… I’ll…_

_I’ll rip them apart with my bare hands._

“She’s my friend too, you know.”

Affronted, she spun around to glare at the angel once more. Viney just looked defeated, head hanging and eyes dim.

“We are not friends! She’s my…”

_She’s more to you than you care to admit._

“... She’s my subject, and it’s my job to make sure nothing happens to her.”

“Uh huh.”

Furious, at herself, at the angel, and at Luz, Amity stalked out of the room and down the hall. Her footsteps pounded across the creaky wooden floor, loud in the now silence of the bar. 

Stumbling on a loose board, the archangel cursed and caught herself against the wall, glaring at the offending board.

What caught her eye was not the board, but a small scrap of purple cloth laying to the side. 

She leaned over and picked it up.

It was only a little piece, but it told a tale that Amity had been waiting hours to hear. The cloth was torn, almost as if by claws, and there was a small spot of dried blood on the edge.

Most importantly, she recognized the scrap as a piece of Luz’s shirt.

The archangel felt her blood boil. 

_Whoever did this…_

_I will find you._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> King just wants to read his celebrity gossip, don’t hate on him Eda 😒
> 
> P.S. you may have noticed that I gave each chapter a title, cause why not?


	14. Belos is a ***** (reposted)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TW: mentions of mutilation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUYS IM SORRY THAT IM AN IDIOT
> 
> I FORGOT TO COPY THE FIRST PART OF AMITY’S POV INTO THIS CHAPTER 😫😫😫
> 
> I cannot believe that I took me this long to realize this
> 
> I hope I didn’t crush your guy’s hopes of a new chapter, but you did get some more Gay!Amity so don’t be too upset

**Amity’s POV**

Her mind hazed over with anger, a trembling filling her entire body as she clutched the cloth scrap. One thought remained at the forefront of her mind.

_ Find Luz. _

She just wanted…

She wanted to keep the angel safe.

_ Find Luz.  _

Amity slowly, deliberately, made her way back to where Angel Griffin was, still sitting hunched over. She looked up as the archangel walked in. Amity held up the cloth scrap, and the angel’s face paled, eyes going wide. 

Without a word, she pushed herself to her feet and followed Amity out the door.

_ Find Luz. _

“Do you… umm, do you have a plan?”

The archangel gave a small nod.

“I have a tracking spell.”

Griffin wrung her hands, face still white with worry.

“But if she’s…”

“Have some faith, will you?”

With that, she traced a circle around the torn cloth, and the scrap lifted off her palm, glowing slightly. It then started floating slowly down the hall.

Amity let out a small sigh of relief, and the color returned to Angel Griffin’s face.

_ At least she’s alive. _

The two of them set off down the dark, grimly lit hall, following the small piece of cloth. It must’ve been a strange sight, to anyone that might’ve witnessed the scene. To see two people, not even human, following a floating cloth scrap as if it was a beacon of hope.

To them, it was.

_ Please, I would rather die than bear the pain of failing to find you. _

_ Please. _

_ I have to find you. _

~~~

**Luz’s POV**

“So, my story.”

Eda rubbed her neck awkwardly. 

“I used to be an archangel. My parents, the Clawthorne’s, were two of the most influential archangels. I had a sister, too. Her name was Lilith, but I called her Lily. Man, she hated that nickname.”

The woman had a sad smile on her face, evidently haunted by her past. Luz was practically boiling over with questions.

“Why are you telling me this?”

Eda let out a laugh that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“Well kid, I’m hoping that you’ll see me as a little more than someone who is currently holding you against your will.”

The fallen archangel’s face fell again, surprising Luz. Around the walls, the many candles seemed to flicker sadly, despite the absence of a breeze.

“Maybe I’m a little lonely too, with nobody but fuzz for brains over there to keep me company.”

“Hey!”

She didn’t want to, but the angel felt a flare of sympathy in her chest. Despite the demonic roommate, Eda seemed like a sad, middle aged woman living her days out all alone in this shack. Luz had to remind herself of reality.

_ I’m chained to a chair in this “poor woman’s” shack. _

_ Don’t let her words twist your mind. _

“Anyhow, Lily and I spend our days as any young archangels should, holding mock battles against each other, doing our homework together, etc. She and I were inseparable. And, we both wanted to be part of Archangel Belos’s circle when we grew up.”

“Our parents, being the influential people that they were, often had large parties with hundreds of archangels present. They were extravagant things, and I never enjoyed them all that much. When I was sixteen, Belos showed up to one of my parent’s parties. Of course, they were overjoyed.”

Eda’s face twisted into a sneer, and Luz was quiet.

“I was upstairs, heading to the bathroom so I could hide away, when a gruesome sight caught my eye. Belos, and one of his minions, held an archangel captive, and the great archangel was murmuring some incantation. And, kid, what I saw would give you nightmares for weeks. It gave me nightmares, after all.”

Despite her resolve, Luz found herself hanging onto every word.

“I’m not sure how it happened, but a small light came out of that poor archangel’s chest. I think… I’m not sure, but think it was their soul. Archangel Belos then  _ sucked their soul  _ through the eye holes of that mask he wears, and sat back, evidently satisfied. The archangel went limp in his minion’s grasp, not dead, but lifeless. I fled to the bathroom before he could see me, and lost my dinner.”

She grimaced in disgust, as Luz shook, Eda’s words having chilled her very bones.

_ He drank their… soul? _

_ That’s not, that’s, that’s impossible, right? _

_ And sick. _

“The next morning, long after Belos had gone, I ran to Lily and told her everything, practically sobbing in her arms. I told her that we had to tell someone, to expose him. She pushed me away, calling me a liar, that I was faking it for attention.”

“Then, his minions came for me. They dragged me away, brought me before Archangel Belos so I may be interrogated. In my rage over what the archangel had done, I screamed and spat in his face, yelling at him about what I’d seen. With all the cold indifference of a sheet of ice, he declared me fallen and exiled me.”

_ No…  _

“He personally took his knife, grabbed a hold of my wings, and cut them off.”

_ I think I’m going to be sick. _

“I passed out screaming. When I woke again, I was here, in this cesspit of a town, surrounded by demons. They could’ve left me there to die, in a pool of my own blood, but took pity on me and bandaged me up. I owe my life to them.”

She fell quiet for a moment, watching Luz’s face turn multiple shades of green as she tried to digest Eda’s story.

_ Belos wouldn’t do this… _

_ Would he? _

“You see, Angel Noceda, demons aren’t really evil. They aren’t monsters, like you grow up hearing. Their violent actions are caused by their bitterness, from being slighted by angels and archangels alike all their lives. Some of them are terrible, yes, but so are some angels. There is no good side, and no evil side. Life is much more complicated than that.”

With this, Eda leaned forward, looking deep into Luz’s eyes.

“So, I have a proposition for you. Be my spy.”

_ A… spy? For one of the fallen? _

Luz started to speak out in protest, but the woman held up her hand.

“I knew you’d reject my offer, so let me continue.”

Eda took a deep breath, an intensity deep in her eyes.

“You aren’t even a full angel. Let me guess, you’ve lived your whole life in fear that someone will put two and two together and figure out your secret. You’ve never had that father figure around to give you and your mother support. You’ve always been an outsider, making few friends.”

Her words stung, but they rang true.

“Not only have you been slighted by archangels your whole life, but by your own kind as well. You’ve always felt like you were supposed to do great things, but were held back by your own father. Your own kind has already betrayed you.”

_ Is she a mind reader? _

“I don’t need to be psychic to read the story in your eyes.”

“If you help me, I’ll tell you everything that I’ve ever learned. I’ll tell you the truth about demons, about angels and archangels.”

Eda waved her hand, and the ropes and chains fell off of Luz. She stared at the woman, mouth open and eyes wide.

“Or, you can forget about this and run. Run, tell your archangel what happened, but know, you’ll never find us again.”

She flushed slightly at the woman’s choice of words.

Eda raised her eyebrow expectantly, and held her hand out.

Luz was torn.

_ She was right. Everything she said was right. _

_ If I do this, I’ll be betraying my own kind. I’ll be betraying Amity. _

She felt a swoop of guilt in her stomach.

_ But I can tell that Eda is telling the truth. And if I run away, I’ll be letting a murderer walk free.  _

The angels stood up and tentatively reached out, clasping Eda’s outstretched hand.

“I’ll do it.”

The woman smiled.

“Good.”

Eda dug into a small pouch resting on her hip, rooting around before pulling out a small coin, and handed it to Luz. She studied the coin, one side etched with an owl, the other with a strange symbol.

“It’s a communication glyph. Flip the coin over three times when you have a message for me.”

_ Alright…  _

Frowning slightly, Luz tucked it into her pocket.

The woman suddenly leaned back in her chair, smirk stretching across her features. 

“My perimeter spells just went off. Your friends have good timing.”

_ Viney!  _

_ And Amity. _

The guilt was back.

“Well, I should send you back before they find the Owl House, what’d you say King?”

“Weh?”

“Wait, send me-”

Eda waved her hand, the floor dropping out from under Luz, and she fell into darkness.

~~~

**Amity’s POV**

The cloth pulsed vibrantly and started floating faster, causing Amity’s heart to speed up. She let out a sharp breath, and Griffin’s eyes snapped up from the ground.

“We’re close.”

The angel’s footsteps faltered slightly behind her.

“Archangel Blight, what are we going to do once we find Luz? What if there’s a mass of demons holding her?”

Amity felt a heavy sigh escape her lips.

“Then, you do what you are trained to do. We will not leave her behind.”

“Understood, Archangel Blight.”

Their footsteps crackled on dried leaves, branches snapping every now and again. Amity cringed at the noise.

_ If they didn’t know that we were coming, they know now. _

“Please try to walk quietly, Griffin.”

“Yes, Archangel Blight.”

The forest around them was dark, moonlight nor starlight able to reach them through the thick canopy. As a result, the archangel held a light ball in her other hand, the one that wasn’t preoccupied with the tracking miracle. It took some effort to keep them both activated, but Amity enjoyed being able to actually see where she was going.

Though, the light’s radius only shown a few feet on all sides, forcing the two of them to be extra vigilant.

That is, until the sky yawned and dropped Luz on their heads.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah I’m dumb ;(
> 
> “Sometimes, when you look into your enemy’s eyes, you see the truth reflected in them” -random deep shit my friend said while we were playing Among Us 
> 
> (I’m leaving the quote in cause I like it)


	15. Do you feel this same weight pressing against your chest?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello I am sick and currently have a tissue wad shoved up my nose-
> 
> Surrounded by cough drops and Kleenex. I wrote most of this while I had a migraine and 100* fever so if it sucks that’s why :)

**Amity’s POV**

The angel slammed into her, their heads knocking together, which caused a pain to erupt behind Amity’s eyes. She grit her teeth, semiconscious from the pain as a heavy weight settled on top of her.

Luz let out a groan, and she felt the sound vibrate against her own chest.

As the angel slowly peeled herself off of Amity’s chest, she brought a hand to her forehead, rubbing it and gradually cracking her eyes open. In the background, she could hear Angel Griffin’s concerned shouts, words barely registering and much too loud for her now splitting headache.

In hindsight, it would’ve been better if she’d just kept her eyes closed.

The sight that greeted her was Luz, face _much_ too close to hear own, noses nearly touching and brown eyes wide with surprise and something else. 

Suddenly, Amity was completely alert.

Both angel and archangel scrambled backwards, with Luz practically jumping off of her, feet pedaling away until she hit a tree. Her wings flared out and feathers bristled, before she frantically turned around and karate-chopped said tree. Almost instantly, she fell to the ground again, clutching her hand and face tight with pain.

Luz looked like such a train wreck that Amity would’ve laughed, had her own heart not been pounding away, had the angel not seemed so _scared._

In fact, she looked terrified, eyes darting around, not resting on anything longer than a couple seconds. Amity hardly noticed Griffin kneeling next to her, or the quiet words murmured as the angel pressed a finger to her forehead. Almost instantly, the pain disappeared.

Actually, she might’ve appreciated the pain, as it distracted her from the dread settling in her stomach as she watched Luz struggle on the ground.

_What happened to you?_

Griffin kneeled next to her, gently taking the angel’s wrist in her hands, a soft glow emanating from them as Amiy heard a bone pop back into place. The older angel then placed a comforting hand on Luz’s shoulder, and the girl’s heavy breaths eventually quieted down.

She watched the whole interaction from her own spot on the ground, feeling her chest ache at the quiet comfort that Angel Griffin seemed to radiate, and for once, she was genuinely thankful that the angel had tagged along. After all, Amity’s presence was only ever off putting to most. 

What could’ve only been a few minutes stretched into hours, and the archangel tried to find her voice, to say _something_ instead of sitting here like a bump on a log.

“Where’ve you been, Angel Noceda?”

Her voice came out dry and scratchy, dying in the space between them instead of reverberating like normal.

Inwardly, she chided herself.

_“Where’ve you been?”_

_Not, “What happened?”_

_Not, “Are you okay?”_

_Almost anything would’ve been better._

The angel shifted her eyes up, dark circles marring the skin underneath them. Luz looked as if she was about to respond, but something crossed her face and she cast her eyes down, lips pressing together tightly. Amity was confused by the expression on her features.

But she was no stranger to it.

_Guilt._

“Lu- Angel Noceda?”

The angel inhaled, eyes darting everywhere but Amity’s own, while Griffin rubbed comforting circles on her back. She watched as Luz forced a smile.

“I’m fine. A healthy dose of kidnapping every now and then is good for you, ya know.”

Amity just stared, dumbfounded.

_Even at her worst, she tries to make people laugh._

_An… admirable trait, to say the least._

Luz ran a hand through her hair, which hung haphazardly over her forehead, clearly messed up from the fall. 

“So, turns out the two demons we met back at the bar, well, one of them isn’t even a demon! Wild, right? Eda, fiery-haired lady, is actually a fallen angel. Did I tell you that already? I’m pretty sure I did.”

Amity furrowed her eyebrows at that piece of information, heart sinking into her stomach.

_Looks like she was right._

“Anyhow, Eda has me kidnapped to figure out why I’m following them, but I’m a tough nut to crack! I say nothing, stone cold to her trickery, and eventually she senses that you guys are nearby and lets me go before you stumbled upon the shack where I was being held. Bada bing, bada boom, I land on top of Archangel Blight over here, crisis averted!”

The angel’s eyes were a little wild and her movements were too animated, that forced smile still resting on her lips. Amity and Angel Griffin exchanged a worried glance.

Luz tapped her fingers restlessly against her leg, still not meeting the archangel’s eyes.

Amity wasn’t an idiot.

_She’s lying._

_But why?_

Perhaps the experience was too traumatizing for Luz to recap, and she felt a flare of guilt in her own chest.

_It should’ve been me._

_Why didn’t I listen to her? Why did I insist on punishing her for something that she had no control over?_

_Why am I so selfish?_

An owl hooted in the distance, jarring Amity, her feathers bristling instinctively; ready to flee, ready to fight. The sound of wings passed overhead, and she forced herself to calm down. It passed, and in the absence of noise, she slipped back into her own head.

_But, I mean, can she not tell that her best friend is in love with her?_

The look in Willow’s eyes as she’d pulled away from Luz had clearly meant one thing and one thing only. 

_“If you try anything, I will tear you apart. Luz deserves better than you.”_

Amity was inclined to believe that the raven haired angel was right. 

She watched Griffin, still rubbing circles on the girl’s back as she eased into the touch. She felt a pang in her chest as Luz settled down, relaxing her breath, nervous energy draining from her body.

_Willow would be able to comfort her. Willow would be able to hold her close without question._

Amity sighed, deciding that she should get up before she slipped into the old habit of mentally torturing herself to tears. Both angels watched as she made her way up to standing. Luz’s eyes were muted, absent of the warmth that usually swirled in them. The moonlight only made them seem colder. 

“If you two are ready, we should get going. There are still demons roaming about.”

Wordlessly, the two angels got to their feet, Luz stumbling slightly until Griffin caught her. She wrapped her arm around Luz’s waist, and slung one of her arms around her own shoulder, practically holding the angel upright. Again, Amity felt the sting of guilt and bitterness in her chest. 

She should be the one to hold Luz upright, to give her support. It was her job to take care of her mission members, those weaker than her.

But, she felt… 

_Alone._

_~~~_

**Luz’s POV**

If there was one thing that she learned about herself today, it’s that she was a horrible actor. Her mother had always said that being a bad liar meant you were pure of heart, though Luz wished she wasn’t. Then, it would’ve been easier to deal with the crushing guilt that threatened to consume her. 

Guilt… was a strange thing.

Technically, she’d done nothing wrong yet. She’d only accepted a coin.

Said coin sat heavily in her pocket, seeming to weigh her down as they approached the Isles. 

But it was the promise of what she had yet to do, what she’d committed herself to with only a few sympathetic words and trickery. Yet, Luz knew that there’d been no trickery or lies in Eda’s speech, only the bitterness of someone who’d long been treated like the scum of the Earth. 

She’d always had a bleeding heart.

_Did I make the right choice?_

_Would I feel like this if I had?_

And Amity… 

For all the coldness that she exuded, Luz had seen the relief and concern in the archangel’s eyes. She’d wanted to tell her the truth so bad, to give her the coin, to share this burden with someone else. She’d almost told her.

_“Run, tell your archangel what happened, but know, you’ll never find us again.”_

Luz couldn’t do it. So she lied. And she could see, so easily, that Amity hadn’t believed her. 

Yet, the archangel hadn’t looked angry, or dissatisfied. She’d just seemed… sad.

Sad and unsure. Such a difference from Luz had first met her.

As the Gates came into view, she felt sick again.

_Am I going to have to hide this from everyone? Can I not tell Willow, Gus, or even my own mother? Is there anyone I can trust?_

They landed, and Luz found herself knocked off her feet by two massive hugs.

“See, I told you to stop fussing. She’s perfectly fine.”

“I wasn’t fussing, Gus!”

The two of them pulled away, and Willow now held her by the shoulders, studying her face. Luz managed a weak smile, a little dizzy and disoriented from the suddenness of it all. The sun was too bright, blinding almost as she squinted at her friend. Willow frowned.

“What’s up with you? Are you alright?”

Her only response was to nod, which Willow didn’t seem convinced by.

_See? Bad actor._

She suddenly scowled over Luz’s shoulder, eyes tearing away from her own and settling on something behind her.

“Amity. What’s wrong with her? Why is she acting like this?”

A voice emanated from behind her, tone short and frosty. Luz turned, spotting the archangel with her wings tucked in tightly, eyes back to their usual coldness. 

_No, don’t tell her, don’t make her worried-_

“Angel Noceda had an unfortunate run-in with some demons, and was separated from us for some time.”

- _oh no._

“She was kidnapped?!”

Willow’s frown deepened, eyes alighting with a rage that only came out when she was very, _very_ upset. Luz was let go, unable to do anything but watch the barrage that was about to rain down like hellfire on the archangel. If anything, Amity’s face only grew more expressionless as Willow stormed towards her.

“You let her be kidnapped.”

“It wasn’t intentional.”

“You said that she wouldn’t be harmed.”

“Physically, she’s fine. Just worn out.”

“Oh yeah? Tell that to the scratches on her side!”

Luz looked down to where a chunk of her shirt had been torn off. For the first time, she noticed four parallel lines across her skin, presumably left by King’s claws.

_Hmm._

“Listen, Willow, I told you that I’d return her in one piece, and I did.”

“Uh huh, _sure,_ she may be _physically_ fine, but did you even consider the trauma that you put her through?”

Willow looked practically livid, and Amity grit her teeth.

“Or are you just as heartless as you were ten years ago?”

Suddenly, the sun seemed cold. The archangel exhaled, and Willow seemed to pale under her glare.

“I know I failed. I failed with you, and I failed to keep my promise. But you _do not_ have the right to call me heartless. You have no idea, the stress, the worry I felt as I spent _hours_ looking for Luz.”

_She was worried about me?_

A second thought registered, slightly late and quieter.

_She called me Luz._

“Now, she’s standing in front of you, safe, and you have the nerve to call me heartless. If I was heartless, she’d still be on Earth.”

Willow was quiet and still, having been frozen by the archangel’s bitter glare. She opened her mouth to say something, but lost the words. Amity cast her eyes down, finally breaking the stares, and Luz let out a small sigh of relief.

“Now do what I can’t, and comfort your friend. Make sure she doesn’t have any nightmares.”

The raven haired angel gave a terse nod, and turned away from Amity. Her eyes warmed as she looked at Luz, and she gave her a small smile. Luz gave her a dazed salute in return, mind still reeling. She always seemed one step behind whenever the two of them talked.

As Willow looped her arm with Luz’s, she glanced back to Amity one last time.

The archangel looked… 

_Alone._

  
  
  
  
Old drawing I did awhile ago, thought it fit for this chapter.  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You ever see a girl/boy/nb pal (whatever your preference is), walk away from you, then turn over their shoulder and give you a wave goodbye. They made you smile with the conversation you just had, with their jokes, you feel warm inside. You watch as they wrap their arms around someone else, smile at someone else like that person is their world. You feel stupid. The warmth turns to ice in your stomach. They have no idea how much they mean to you, how their presence lights up your life.
> 
> (please ignore me I’m just sick and gay and yearning)


	16. This won’t be easy, kid

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for dipping for over a week, I’ll make it up to y’all ;)

_A horde of demons surrounded her, half-hidden by shadows, malice in their grins. Wickedly sharp claws were extended towards her, each greedy to taste her flesh. Multicolored eyes stuck out in the shadows, each one glinting with hunger and anger._

_Luz stumbled back, until she hit a wall that seemed to materialize out of nowhere. A disembodied voice echoed from the demons in front of her, not belonging to any of them but seeming to emanate from all of them._

_“Demons aren’t evil, little angel. Just bitter.”_

_Fear pumped with every beat of her heart._

_“Come, see for yourself. Join us.”_

_Yellow grins and flashing eyes stuck out from the horde, claws still reaching for her. The demons crept closer, and she found it harder and harder to suck in air, choking on the shadows. Helplessly, Luz whipped her head around, looking for anything, anyone, to help._

_A lone figure, just as dark as the demons, but with a pair of brilliant white wings, stood separate from the crowd. As they looked up, she saw bright gold eyes, filled with bitterness like all the others. She felt something curl up and die inside of her._

_The figure spoke, and their voice was high, cold, and unforgiving._

_“You betrayed me, Luz.”_

_She felt a tear slide down her face._

**_No…_ **

_“You betrayed all of us. You told me lies, sold your soul to the devil.”_

_A pair of bright golden tears traced down the figure’s face._

_“How could you? I thought that you were different!”_

_Those eyes were so very familiar…_

_“I gave my trust to the wrong person, Luz. Let the demons have you, traitor.”_

_The demons finally surrounded Luz, claws sinking into her, screams echoing in the soulless night. The figure watched impassively, golden tears still running down their face._

  


~~~

“No!”

Luz sat bolt upright in bed, heart hammering in her throat. She frantically patted down her sides, wincing when her fingers probed the wound on her left. Other than that, she seemed to be intact.

A heavy, shaky sigh escaped her lips.

_It was just a bad dream._

Hands trembling, Luz reached for her scroll. The numbers **4:12 am** shone up at her, too bright in the darkness of her room. Two messages from Willow lingered on her screen.

  
  


**Willow 11:26 pm:** Please call me if you need anything.

**Willow 11:26 pm:** Let me know if you slept fine :) 

  
  


Sighing, she opened her scroll and typed out a quick text.

  
  


**Luz 4:14 am:** im fine, just had a bad dream

**Luz 4:15 am:** dont worry about me so much

  
  


**Willow 4:17 am:** It’s my job to worry about you

  
  


**Luz 4:17 am:** what are you, my mom?

**Luz 4:18 am:** … why are you awake

  
  


**Willow 4:18 am:** You woke me up.

**Willow 4:18 am:** But don’t worry about it! I’m glad to hear that you're okay!

  
  


**Luz 4:19 am:** you’re a good friend

**Luz 4:19 am:** but seriously, stop worrying about me so much

  
  


**Willow 4:23 am:** :)

  
  


Luz set her scroll down, and flopped back onto the bed. Her eyes trained on the ceiling, refusing to close, lest the bad dreams come back to haunt her. She felt her gaze shift to her desk, where she knew the coin rested. Hidden away in a drawer, where she would never have to see it. 

A sigh escaped her again.

She sat up again, turning on a lamp. Cautiously, Luz moved towards her desk, opening the drawer slowly. There, the coin sat, unbothered.

_Stupid piece of metal._

“You’ve given me too much trouble already. I should throw you out the window.”

The coin didn’t answer.

Luz hesitantly grabbed the coin, as if it might bite. She studied it for a moment, testing the weight in her palm. The owl engraved on the back of it seemed to be laughing at her. The metal was cold on her skin.

She scowled.

_I’ll give Eda a piece of my mind. I won’t be a pawn in whatever game she’s playing._

Luz flipped the coin over three times.

Nothing happened.

A few minutes passed, with bated breath, and still nothing happened.

Something like relief flooded her chest. The coin must’ve been faulty, or the fallen archangel had been lying to her. Whatever the case, it felt like a weight was removed from her chest.

_I’m free._

Lighter than she’d felt in days, Luz went back to bed and sank into sleep.

~~~

A scratching sound woke Luz from her sleep. 

She ignored at first, thinking it was just their tree brushing against the window. Rolling over, she closed her eyes again.

_Scritch, scratch._

Luz let out a huff, turning towards the window.

What she saw wasn’t their tree, but a small little thing flying outside. In the dim morning light she couldn’t make out what it was, but it had wings and talons, the cause of the scratching noise. Feeling a spike of anxiety, she sat up and peered at the window. Not getting any better of a look, Luz stood and made her way towards the thing.

A loud hoot of indignation sounded from outside the window, causing her to take a step back.

_A bird?_

They didn’t have birds, or any animals for that matter, on the Isles. 

Stepping closer, Luz now saw that the creature was a miniature owl, who somehow managed to look quite annoyed at the sheet of glass between it and her. Against her better judgment, she unlatched the window, and the owl immediately flew inside her room. It landed on her desk, and started preening its feathers.

Luz stood still as a statue, watching the owl cautiously.

_It doesn’t seem to be dangerous…_

_How’d it get here?_

A closer look at the owl’s talons revealed a little roll of paper, tied haphazardly with a bit of ribbon. Luz made her way towards the owl, and as she approached, it stuck out its leg cooperatively. With slightly shaky fingers, she untied the slip of paper and unfurled it.

On it, she found a short letter written in spiky handwriting.

  
  


_I see that you’ve decided to use the coin! Pretty quick I’d say, for all your hesitation about this little arrangement._

_Unless you’ve changed your mind and decided that you don’t want to go through with this. A shame, but if that’s how you feel, just send the coin back with Owlbert and we’ll be done with this whole thing._

_Of course, then you’d miss out on all the juicy little secrets about Belos that I’ve learned over the years._

_And of course, you’ll have to live with the crippling weight of guilt that you could’ve helped put a stop to an evil, tyrannical archangel. But no big deal, it’s not your burden to bear._

_Just know, I wouldn’t make you hurt anyone. I only want little tidbits of information, things that I can’t get myself. Trust me, the pros of what you’d be doing far outweigh the cons._

_Let me know your final decision ASAP._

_\- Eda (And King)_

  
  


As she read, she felt the guilt settle back into her stomach. 

Luz wanted to help! She really did. She wanted to do something to stop Archangel Belos, and Eda had somehow found that weakness in her. 

But, she didn’t want to turn her back on her own kind. 

_Though, would I really be betraying them?_

A little voice in the back of her head chipped away at her resolve.

_If Belos is as evil as Eda says, then wouldn’t I be doing them a favor?_

_I’d be helping them stop someone who’s killing archangels._

_I could be… a hero._

Luz didn’t know what to do. Didn’t know how to feel. 

_I could save people._

Isn’t that what she’s always wanted? To make a difference in the word? To help people, and make tough decisions in order to do so?

_I can’t just do nothing._

She grabbed a pen and spare sheet of paper, hastily scrawling out her response before she could change her mind.

  
  


_Eda,_

_You’d make a pretty good salesman, I’d have to say. I was going to say no, but I don’t think I’d be able to live with that decision. As long as I don’t have to hurt anyone, and you’re not completely conning me, I’ll get you what you want._

_Angel Noceda_

  
  


She rolled the letter up and tied it to the owl’s leg, who let out a soft hoot and flew out the open window when she was finished. It disappeared into the early morning sun, along with Luz’s last chance of getting out of this mess.

_I wish I’d never gone to Earth._

  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I’m gonna do this thing where I feature one of your comments each chapter, because I want to start interacting with y’all more. I’m really really bad at replying to comments, so this’ll be a way for me to get better at that and also give y’all some recognition! Because I love every one of you, and I thank you for sticking with me and reading all my stories 😊. You can just say something funny, or predict how you think the next chapter will go, or whatever!


	17. Amity Blight is “high priority”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luz represents my own confusion when it comes to paying bills and getting “important” mail.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “I thought the coin would like open a magic portal for them to talk through or something not summon a messenger bird lol that threw me off.” - nmmbrr9
> 
> Honestly I should’ve done that cause it sounds cooler, but I had to write Owlbert in there somehow 😂
> 
> Also if you guys haven’t seen it already, I updated the last chapter with some fan art after the dream if you wanna check that out.

Luz had been expecting a letter, but not from a messenger angel. 

That whole day she’d been pacing the house, anxiously awaiting the arrival of that little owl. Sometime around three, she’d run out of nervous energy, collapsing on the couch with a healthy heaping of Ambrosi-os.

So, here she was, slumped over and eating her second bowl of cereal, when the doorbell rang.

Nearly spilling the bowl, Luz set it down on the floor and dusted off her shirt. She walked over to the door, attempting to fix the disaster that was her hair before pulling the door open.

“Letter for Luz Noceda.”

She blinked up at him, still waking up from her food coma.

“Why not just put it in the mailbox?”

The angel rubbed the back of his neck, a little put off by her confusion. He pointed to a stamp on the back of the envelope.

“It’s marked high priority… we try to hand deliver them first before putting them in the box.”

Luz flipped over the letter, registering the stamp now.

“Ah.”

Staring at the letter, she gave him a hasty salute and a mumbled “thank you” before shutting the door behind her. 

Her heart rate spiked when she noticed who it was from. Nearly running into the couch, she maneuvered around it and sat down.

_ Why did Amity send me a high priority letter? _

Luz ran her fingernails under the seal, tearing the envelope a bit, before pulling out two pieces of paper. One was just a sheet of lined paper, with elegant script written on it that she instantly recognized. The other was an official looking document.

She unfolded the second piece of paper, scanning its contents. 

When Luz read the figures at the bottom of the sheet, she actually fell over and directly on top of the cereal bowl, spilling milk all over the floor and her shirt. Biting back a few curses, she re-read the numbers again, not quite believing what she was seeing.

  
  


**Payment for—Angel Noceda—regarding her last (2) missions:**

**30,000 snails**

**Thank you for your dedicated service!**

  
  


Let’s just say, there were more zeros than she expected.

_ Where… where did all this money come from? _

_ Maybe it’s a mistake? _

_ … Well, I have the money for Viney now. _

Still very puzzled, she opened the letter from Amity.

  
  


_ To Luz Noceda, _

_ If you haven’t opened the other document enclosed with my letter, I suggest you do that now or you’ll probably be a bit confused about the next paragraph. _

_ Assuming that you’ve now done that, please accept the extra snails as a token of compensation for the incident. It was at my own fault that you were put through that, and I understand that money won’t fix it, but hopefully it will ease some of the strain. I pulled quite a few strings with the Isles Treasury, so I do hope that you take the snails. _

_ Aside from the money, I wanted to ask you something. _

_ Would you like to train with me? Just in hand-to-hand combat, and possibly with swords? _

_ When we fought, I could see that you have potential, but whatever general training they put you through wasn’t enough and your movements were sloppy. If you’d let me instruct you, I believe that I could greatly improve your hand-to-hand combat skill. _

_ Also, perhaps, if you’d been better trained and prepared for missions, we might’ve avoided the whole kidnapping business. _

_ I hope you accept the invitation, as it’ll probably do you some good. Where I train is attached below. Show the guards this card and they’ll let you in. I’ll be there on Wednesday, at noon. _

_ Regards, _

_ Amity Blight _

  
  


“Huh.”

_ She wants to train me. _

_ Oh heavens, I’m going to be trained by Amity Blight. _

Luz’s fingers trembled on the letter, setting it next to her payment. Well, at least it explained a few things, like the enormous amount of money she just recieved.

_ Amity Blight is going to train me. _

Somehow, Luz couldn’t wrap her head around this.

She rushed up the stairs, grabbing her payment and the letter along the way, and practically ran into her room. Grabbing a sheet of paper, and her trusty pen, Luz settled at her desk and started writing the response.

  
  


_ Amity, _

_ You definitely didn’t need to give me 30,000 snails, but I’m not going to refuse it. Just… I have no idea what to do with that much money. _

_ It’s probably a good idea for me to get some extra training in, I’ve been getting rusty ever since I graduated. So, I’ll join you on Wednesday. _

_ Actually, here’s my scroll number because writing letters is definitely not the fastest way to contact people: 589-382-6489. _

_ Luz :) _

  
  


She sealed the letter, running back downstairs and out the door, before sticking it in the mailbox.

_ Now to play the waiting game. _

~~~

**Amity’s POV**

It was early Wednesday morning when the letter arrived, and she was cleaning her flat.

Whenever Amity was restless, she either trained, or cleaned. 

As a result, her knuckles were covered in scars, and her flat was usually spotless.

She heard the doorbell ring, but by the time she opened it, the messenger angel was long gone. Amity sighed.

_ They tend to fly away quickly. No one wants to interact with a Blight, lest their careers might be ruined. _

Returning back inside, she grabbed her letter opener, carefully sliding the blade under the seal and pulling out the contents. As Amity read, she felt her heart soar against her will. A small smile spread across her face when she saw the smiley face, apparently Luz’s now official signature.

_ Dumb angel. _

Amity pulled out her scroll, checking the time. It was only 9:30, and two and a half hours seemed like an eternity to wait. Patience wasn’t her strong suit. Hesitantly, she pulled up her messages and typed a quick text to the number that Luz had given her.

  
  


**Amity 9:32 am:** I do hope this is the right number.

  
  


**589-382-6489 9:33 am:** amity? cause this is luz and ive only given my number to one person lately

  
  


**Amity 9:33 am:** Yes.

  
  


**Luz 9:34 am:** are you sure?

**Luz 9:34 am:** because amity would probably be protesting me using her first name

  
  


**Amity 9:35 am:** Oh for heaven's sake, we’re texting. I’d say that it doesn’t matter that much.

  
  


**Luz 9:35 am:** who are you and what have you done to archangel blight

  
  


**Amity 9:36 am:** You are insufferable.

  
  


**Luz 9:36 am:** :)

**Luz 9:36 am:** are we still on for noon?

  
  


**Amity 9:36 am:** Unless you’ve changed your mind.

  
  


**Luz 9:37 am:** i haven't

  
  


**Amity 9:37 am:** Then yes, we are.

  
  


~~~

Patience  _ really  _ wasn’t her strong suit.

In fact, she’d gotten to the training center an hour ahead of time, deciding to waste time on the punching bags until Luz showed up. As usual, the place was empty, specifically reserved for the Blight family whenever they wanted to use it.

Her parents, mission days long over and now tied up in business deals, never used the training center. The twins, often galavanting around with their friends, or accompanying their parents to important lunches, hardly ever stopped by.

This left Amity by herself, to train in peace, a place to vent out her frustrations without anyone watching.

Time slipped by, past noon, and she only looked up when a loud clatter sounded by the door. There, she found Luz, scrambling to pick a sword that had been knocked off one of the weapon racks.

“Sorry, I’m sorry! My wing hit it by accident.”

The angel straightened up, and rubbed her neck bashfully. 

“... How long were you standing there?”

Luz cleared her throat awkwardly, wings flicking out and back in, threatening to hit the weapon rack again. She wouldn’t meet Amity’s eyes.

“Just a few minutes. You looked so focused, and I didn’t want to disturb you.”

“Next time, just say something.”

“Right.”

Luz still wouldn’t meet her eyes, instead scanning the room and its abundance of equipment.

_ Well… this is more uncomfortable than I’d thought it would be. _

She tried to salvage the awkward moment, clapping her hands together, which only seemed to startle the angel.

“Shall we get started? I’m sorry that I got distracted.”

Luz nodded and made her way towards Amity, dropping her gym bag a few feet away. The pair of them faced each other, and there was uncertainty in the angel’s eyes.

“Let’s see you on the punching bag first, since I’m already warmed up on it.”

Amity raised an eyebrow at the angel’s small laugh.

“Alright, but I doubt I’ll look as good as you do.”

Her cheeks flushed after the implication of what Luz just said processed. The angel waved her hands wildly, a blush spreading across her own face.

“I meant when you're punching! Your form looks good!”

“Right.”

Luz murmured something under her breath, and stepped towards the bag. She studied it for a second, making an experimental fist and adjusting her stance. Slowly, her fist connected with the bag, making it move ever so slightly.

Amity had to stifle a laugh behind her hand, but Luz heard her anyway and gave a halfhearted glare.

“What?”

She moved closer to the angel, close enough to count Luz’s eyelashes, see the different shades of brown in her eyes.

_ This is the first time we’ve been alone since that night in the alley. _

_ A lot has changed since then. _

“First off-”

Amity took Luz’s wrist gently in her hands, correcting her form.

“-your wrist is slightly bent when you punch.”

She tapped the angel’s elbow, then her shoulder. Her skin was warm to the touch, and goosebumps erupted where Amity’s fingers lingered.

“Secondly, your elbow is too high, and so is your shoulder.”

Moving around Luz, she tapped one of her wings, feathers bristling slightly where she touched.

“Thirdly, your wings are too far extended when you hit. This can help your balance, but overall it slows you down.”

Amity was now on the angel’s right, having made a half circle around her. Luz stared at her, those already big eyes wide with something she couldn’t identify.

“Try hitting in a one-two-three rhythm.”

She redid her stance, changing the little things that Amity adjusted. Studying the bag again, the angel hit it in quick succession, resulting in a sound that she knew all too well.

_ Thud. _

_ Thud. _

_ Thud. _

“Good. Do it again.”

Surprisingly, Luz grinned at her, before returning her attention to the punching bag and hitting it again.

_ Thud. _

_ Thud. _

_ Thud. _

“Again.”

_ Thud.  _

_ Thud. _

_ Thud. _

This went on for some time, Amity occasionally readjusting Luz’s form whenever she slipped up and tried to revert back to old habits. She would grumble a bit, but always listened and tried again. 

_ She’s a fast learner. _

After a bit, the angel had built up a sweat, and beads of it ran down her forehead with each punch. Luz’s hair flopped in her eyes, and Amity either wanted to run her fingers through it or offer her a hair tie. 

She could feel the blush spreading across her face and the tips of her ears, praying that Luz was too distracted to notice.

_ What is wrong with me? _

Another couple minutes passed, and the angel held up a finger, grabbing her towel and wiping the sweat off her face. When she looked up, Amity felt her heart stop.

Luz looked positively  _ radiant,  _ cheeks red with exertion and eyes shining. When she grinned at the archangel, Amity felt her heart restart, beating too loud and too fast.

“Do you need a break?”

The angel nodded, and Amity tossed her a bottle of water. Luz sank down onto the floor, uncapping the water, chugging most of it down in a matter of seconds. She sighed, closing her eyes for a second.

_ She’s beautiful. _

Amity felt like slapping herself. Instead, her grip tightened on her own water bottle, the plastic crunching a little.

_ Stop it. _

Luz cracked an eye open, and she met her gaze.

“You look like you’ve got something on your mind.”

_ You. _

_ You’re on my mind. _

Amity took her own seat on the floor, sighing a little as she settled. The angel looked at her expectantly, and she racked her mind for something to say.

_ Maybe you could ask now… while she’s relaxed like this. _

“Well, I wanted to ask you something.”

“Mhm.”

“What exactly did Eda say to you?”

Just like that, Luz's face fell, and it felt like a wall had sprung up between them. 

Just like that, Amity knew that she’d made a mistake.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My angel flew away  
> I didn't know how to keep her  
> Heaven knows I needed her to stay  
> I hope she spreads her wings  
> Surfing on a sunbeam  
> And dancing to a song I couldn't sing  
> But if I saw her on the street I'd say  
> "My baby fly back to me"
> 
> Love Stuck by Mother Mother
> 
> (No the phone number is not mine, do not try calling it because I have no idea where it’ll take you. But bonus points if anyone figures out what it means.)


	18. Me? Training with you? Sweating?!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “SWORD DATE SWORD DATE   
> THE TENSION IN THE AIR OH LORDY  
> LETS GO LESBIANS  
> Also I think I cracked the phone number code (or got close to it)  
> 589-382-6489  
> LUZ-??A-MITY  
> I couldn't make a word out of 3 and 8  
> But Amity at the end... that was a yikes - oof.” 
> 
> \- nerdylilwriter
> 
> SWORD DATE SWORD DATE SWORD DA-  
> heehee yes gay tension is a must here. Also congrats on being the first one to get the number, but shoutout to 5ariza as well on getting the “et” part, because it does mean “and” in French. And oh boy, my dear reader, does Amity make a lot of mistakes.
> 
> Enjoy this chapter ;)

It was amazing, really, how Amity seemed to fuck up everything that was ever good in her life. She watched as Luz’s eyes lost their sparkle, and her arms crossed over her chest, defensive and closed off. The angel turned away from her, looking at nothing.

_ What an idiot you are. _

“Oh, I didn’t… I didn’t mean to-”

_ Upset you. _

Amity lost the rest of her sentence when she caught the expression on Luz’s face. It wasn’t sadness, not really, closer to guilt.

Like regret.

_ Why…? _

The angel wouldn’t look at her.

“What really happened that night?”

It was almost funny, the loathing she felt for herself when Luz’s face tightened, like she’d tasted something sour. Amity wanted to get up, to punch something, to get rid of this feeling in her. To get rid of her own regret at whatever she was putting Luz through, making her re-live. She’d never been impulsive, had always thought through her decisions and the words she said, everything that she did was the best possible action for the situation.

But Luz made her reckless. Made her push and pull when she wasn’t supposed to, made her walk on the wire between mistakes and revelations. And she wanted to  _ help,  _ wanted to do something besides let the angel beat herself up over something that was obviously eating her up inside.

_ How hypocritical of you. _

_ If she asked about the scars on your knuckles, would you tell her the truth? _

_ You wouldn’t, because she doesn’t need to share your trauma.  _

_ Your secrets. _

“Luz, look at me.”

Her eyes snapped up, filled with pain, damp with the beginnings of tears.

“I’m sorry.”

Amity felt herself reel back a little at the apology, unsure of it’s meaning. Why it was even said.

_ What are you hiding? _

“What makes you think you need to apologize? If anything, I should be apologizing, for pushing you like this. I should’ve respected your boundaries.”

Luz gave her a weak smile, wringing her hands together.

“You sound like Willow.”

At the mention of the raven haired angel’s name, Amity’s face twisted into a scowl. Despite the moment, the situation, she felt a spike of anger and melancholy in her stomach. She ran her fingernail along a crack in the tile.

“Why’s that?”

“She’s always apologizing for things that she shouldn’t, and is respectful of my space.”

At this, Luz’s smile grew slightly stronger, and she let out a small laugh.

“You two are very different.”

Amity felt her scowl deepen, even if the angel looked a little less pained.

_ Is that all she thinks of me? _

_ Arrogant, unapologetic, and always pushes too hard? _

_ Perhaps Willow should be here, instead of me. That’s who she wants now, her friend, not an egomaniacal archangel. _

Luz looked her right in the eyes, some of that regret still lingering in them, but still warm.

Always warm.

“But you’re bold, and direct with people.”

_ Me? Bold? _

Amity opened her mouth to protest, but Luz held up a hand to cut her off.

“You’re a leader, someone capable of making the quick and tough decisions. With Willow, sometimes I think she waits too long to do things, thinks about things too much.”

_ Oh, Luz… I’m the same. It’s just that I can’t hold my tongue around you. _

“That’s what I like about you.”

Her words were blunt, holding all the weight in the world to Amity. To Luz though, she could see, it was just a statement, a fact. The angel didn’t know how her words made Amity’s heart soar.

She coughed into her fist, now unable to look Luz in the eyes. She felt… giddy? Like a child again. Almost… free.

“That’s… kind of you to say.”

Luz leaned backwards and lay on the ground, wings extended. Her hair spread across the floor like a halo, and an errant strand fluttered in the air when she exhaled. A small sigh escaped her.

“Do you really want to know what happened?”

_ Yes. _

_ Please let me know what’s hurting you like this. _

“As long as you don’t mind.”

Amity watched a flicker of emotions show in Luz’s eyes, and the angel let out another sigh.

“First, I guess you should know something.”

She felt herself lean closer, anticipating whatever Luz was about to tell her.

“I- I’m… my father was human.”

The angel turned her head towards Amity, gauging her reaction. She took a second to process that, what the words meant, what they implied.

“You mean- you’re a half-breed?”

Luz nodded.

_ A half-breed? _

_ But she’s so… _

_ A half-breed. _

Amity wanted to laugh, but decided that it would be inappropriate for the situation, for the hesitant, scared look that Luz was giving her.

_ Oh, what would my parents say? Me, caring for a half-breed.  _

_ They’d probably disown me on the spot.  _

She decided then that she didn’t care.

_ I’m already so far gone, nothing could pull me down any further. _

_ Luz is still Luz, and she’s always been Luz. _

“Carry on.”

A relieved smile spread across the angel’s face- yes, she was still an angel to Amity- and that sparkle returned to Luz’s eyes. Just a sliver of its usual shine, but still, it was something.

“Did you already know, like based off of the ears or something? You don’t seem very surprised.”

Amity just raised an eyebrow, deadpanning.

“Oh no, I’m just very good at hiding my emotions, didn’t you know?”

Luz laughed, a real one, and she felt a smile creep on her face.

_ It feels good to make her happy. _

The angel’s grin faded slightly as she remembered what she’d been saying, and Amity felt her own smile melt off. It was so easy to forget, to get distracted around her.

“Well, now that you know of my parentage, Eda also figured it out. She said some, accurate, but hurtful things about being a half-breed. Like how I had trouble fitting in my whole life, never really connecting with people.”

_ How dare she! _

Luz’s face changed from downcast to regretful again, the shift throwing Amity off a little.

“She must’ve been trying to break down my loyalty to you, to get me to tell her something.”

_ Guilt. _

_ But, she’s not lying… _

Amity sighed, drawing the angel’s eyes to her.

“What?”

“When I see that woman again, I am going to punch her in the face.”

Luz looked surprised, and she let out a shocked little giggle.

“Amity!”

“Or you can do it, after I finally teach you how to throw a punch properly.”

The angel sat up, staring at her with wide eyes. She still seemed radiant, but her light was dimmed a little with the heaviness of what she’d just told Amity. Her hair was mused, still damp with sweat and flat in the back from laying on the floor. 

Amity’s fingers twitched, aching to run them through her hair, just to straighten it, just to feel the soft strands. The action would be innocent, simple, connotation behind it unknown to Luz.

Oh, how she  _ wanted to. _

Had she been an angel, she might’ve. Had she been Willow, she might’ve.

She  _ wanted to. _

_ This is not allowed. _

Amity clenched her hands into fists, forcing them to stop trembling.

“Do you still want to train?”

The question was open, light, easy to say no to. It was posed as an offering, an olive branch between the two of them, a way to make peace. Luz bit her lip, mulling it over for a second. Any residual tension between them drained away as she gave Amity another smile.

“Well, I’d hate to leave without learning anything but how to punch a canvas sack.”

Amity scoffed, but there was no bite to it.

“Don’t be cheeky.”

Luz stood, offering a hand to the archangel. With only a second of hesitation, she took it, feeling the roughness of her palm. Amity's hand was smaller than Luz’s, and it fit comfortably inside of her’s, like it was meant to be there. As she was pulled up, the angel’s thumb brushed against her knuckles, perhaps unknowingly, across the scars.

“I’m always cheeky, Blight.”

Amity felt her face heat up under Luz’s gaze.

_ She’s like a miniature sun. _

“I don’t doubt it.”

_ This can’t be allowed, these things that I feel. _

_ ~~~ _

**Luz’s POV**

“Now dodge left!”

She lunged to the side, feeling the point of Amity’s sword graze her side, tearing her shirt. The archangel relaxed her stance, lowering the sword and fixing her with a disbelieving look.

“Your  _ other  _ left, Noceda.”

Luz rubbed the sweat off her forehead, feeling her breaths come in short, quick pants. Amity didn’t even look that winded.

“Sorry ‘bout that.”

The archangel looked like she was about to kill her, but Luz thought she caught the hint of a smile trying to creep through.

“I could’ve stabbed you.”

She pretended to be offended, holding a hand to her chest and gasping. Amity rolled her eyes.

“You wouldn’t!”

“I will if you don’t get your head out of the clouds.”

In her defense, fighting Amity was distracting. The archangel looked slight at a distance, almost delicate. When fighting her though, she was faster than the wind, and Luz could see the cords of muscle in her arms and legs when she moved. The warm feeling in her chest that had disappeared with all of the Eda drama had returned full swing today.

Luz would never admit this out loud, but she could’ve probably watched Amity hit that punching bag all day, completely captivated by how fluidly she moved. There was no waste of energy, no unnecessary motions, just deadly speed.

It didn’t help that Amity looked so very  _ alive  _ when she was fighting, color in her cheeks, not so uptight and cold. Those eyes of hers seemed to soften, like gold in the sun.

As the archangel demonstrated how to properly dodge for the hundredth time that day, Luz found herself captivated by the way her mint green hair flew around her face, how her wings extended just to the right length and angle for perfect balance.

_ She’s incredible. _

“Got it?”

“Mhmm.”

Amity was trying not to look exasperated at the slightly spaced out expression on her face.

“Are you too tired to continue?”

_ I am pretty worn out. That must be why I can’t focus. _

She nodded.

The archangel adopted her stance again, and Luz instinctively mirrored her. Outside one of the windows, she could see the sun just brushing the horizon, turning the sky orange and pink.

“One more time, and then we’ll be done.”

“Sounds good.”

Amity raised her sword, and darted forward, quicker than a lighting strike. She barely had time to block it, twisting her body to slash upwards, a move she’d been trying to perfect for an hour now. If Amity hadn’t been so fast, her sword would’ve hit its mark, but the archangel simply moved her head and sidestepped. 

Now off balance, Luz threw open her wings to stop momentum, spinning on her heel to parry Amity’s strike. A shriek of metal filled the space between them. 

She grinned, and Amity only narrowed her eyes. The archangel adjusted her footing, and suddenly Luz found Amity’s weight pressing against the hilt of her sword. In another simple and too-fast motion, her sword clattered to the ground, and Amity’s was against her throat before she could blink.

Luz groaned, and the archangel gave her a smile, removing the blade.

“Better, but you gave me time to adjust my balance and put my full weight against you. But… better.”

She bent over and picked up her sword, still slightly embarrassed that Amity could beat her so quickly.

The archangel set her own sword on one of the weapon racks, picking up a towel and a bottle of water. Those golden eyes never left hers when Amity wiped off her face and took a sip. Warmth pooled in her stomach, and Luz wasn’t quite sure what to do. It didn’t feel right to just pack up her stuff and leave.

“So…”

Amity quirked an eyebrow, walking back towards her.

“I supposed that I learned some stuff today.”

There was a gleam in her eyes when she smiled at Luz, a teasing thing that she’d never seen before.

“Well, I would hope so, otherwise I’m an awful teacher.”

Something struck her, like a sudden, unexplainable bolt of happiness. Luz felt… ecstatic. It was amazing, seeing Amity look like this, so open and free. She was caring today, compassionate, but still retaining that same Amity-ness about her that was completely different from anyone else she’d met. 

Before Luz knew what she was doing, her arms were wrapped around the archangel in a tight hug.

“Thank you for today. For listening to me.”

Amity finally relaxed under her touch, reaching her hands around Luz to grip her shirt, just underneath her wings. Every place that they connected felt like it was on fire, burning.

When they pulled back, those once frozen-over eyes were pools of molten gold, heat searing in Amity’s gaze. A soft little look was on her face, open and relaxed.

“Anytime.”

When the archangel smiled, the warmth in Luz’s tomach spread to her limbs, into her fingers and toes, making everything tingle. A realization struck her.

_ Oh. _

_ That’s what this feeling is. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What- is this? Me? Writing fluff?
> 
> Huhhh?
> 
> god I wanted to make them kiss so bad, SO BAD. I swear, Dana please give us lumity kith soon because I need it to stay sane.


	19. Love advice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luz is even more of a dumbass than usual.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “*incoherent squealing* oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god
> 
> I wonder how willow will react to the news that luz is in love with amity
> 
> I have a feeling that won’t end well”
> 
> \- *happy lesbian noises*
> 
> Well... you don’t have long to wait.... *hands you this chapter gently*
> 
> Awww, mother and daughter bonding to fill this empty hole inside of me knowing that my own parents don’t care about me *screams in 19 years of emotional trauma*
> 
> Also this chapter is mostly fluff again? And for what?

“Mami?”

Camila glanced up from the kitchen table, which was currently buried under a mass of paperwork and bills. The older angel sighed, weary lines carved into her face when she looked at Luz.

“Yes, mija?”

Luz swung her feet off the coffee table, turning around on the couch to face her mother.

“Can I talk to you about something?”

Camila nodded, a relieved look on her face when she stood up and stepped away from the kitchen table. 

“Of course. Anything to get me away from work.”

Her mother moved into the living room, sinking into one of the plush armchairs with an oomph. She looked at Luz, concern growing on her face when she saw her daughter wringing her hands, deep in thought about something.

“What’s wrong, corazón?”

Luz shifted her eyes away, fixing them on a framed picture of her and her mother, when she was much younger.

_ I need her help… but I don’t want to push her. _

“Luz?”

She turned back to Camila, who looked more than a little worried now.

“When did you know that you loved my father?”

The older angel leaned back, startled at the question that had come seemingly out of nowhere. She peered at Luz, who squirmed slightly under the intensity of her gaze, suddenly uncomfortable with the question she’d asked.

_ I probably came on too strong. _

“Your father… well, that’s a tough question mija.”

Camila settled in her chair, and Luz let out a breath of relief when she released her probing gaze.

“I told you how we met, right? I got separated from my mission, somehow ended up in a field of wildflowers, and found him there taking a nap. My footsteps woke him, and he just stared at me, enraptured. I wanted to fly away, but he shook himself out of his daze, picking one of the many flowers and offering it to me.”

She nodded, familiar with the story.

A happy sigh escaped her mother’s lips, a small smile stretching across her face. All the worry lines seemed to disappear from her features.

“I kept finding excuses to sneak off so I could see him. We were stationed there, in rural Spain for an extended mission, and we were given the liberty to research and investigate at our leisure. A couple days before we were scheduled to leave, I found out that I was pregnant with you. He was ecstatic when I told him, and made me swear to come back with you once you were born.”

The happy smile turned into a sad one, Camila clasping her hands and looking out the window. Luz was quiet.

“Many months later, I managed to sneak you to Earth, just to visit him at least once. There, I found him on his deathbed, ill with some unknown disease that no one could cure. Not even my miracles could save him, the sickness too far progressed.”

“But, when your father saw you, it looked like a sliver of his old self had returned. His eyes lit up, and he asked to hold you. That was where you got your name, mija. He’d said “My little angel, my little light.” I hadn’t decided on a name yet, and he wanted to call you Luz. It fit you so perfectly.”

She felt herself smile, and the older angel looked at her with apparent fondness. There was warmth in her mother’s eyes.

“He barely knew you, but loved you so very much. Your father was a troublemaker, bad at following rules, like you. But he loved his family more than anything else, and for a couple days before he passed, we _were_ a family.”

Luz lay back on the couch while her mother looked out the window again, watching angels fly past the sea of islands. 

_ I knew that he died when I was a baby… but not like this. _

It was comforting to know that her father had loved her, had known her. Had been a part of her life, however small that it was.

It made her feel a little less hopeless about her own situation.

“And…?”

Camila grinned at her, looking through Luz’s eager expression.

“Why do you ask? Did you meet someone, cariño?”

She blushed, but her mother fixed her with a stern expression at Luz’s lack of an answer.

“Are we going to have to have the  _ talk,  _ mija?”

Luz waved her hands wildly, face going an even darker shade of red at her question, and the older angel just raised an eyebrow. She stammered, trying to explain without digging an even deeper hole.

“No,  _ no _ , nothing like that! Heavens, no. Please spare me.”

Her mother relaxed a little, stern expression replaced with a small smile. Luz sighed, dragging a hand down her face.

“Then, what is it like? I can’t imagine that you’d ask me this out of the blue, without something behind it.”

She rubbed the back of her neck, avoiding Camila’s eyes.

_ How much should I tell her? _

_ Would she care that Amity is an archangel? _

_ That I think I have… feelings… for an archangel? _

“Well, there is this angel that I’ve met.”

_ Technically archangels are a subspecies of angel, so it’s not exactly a lie. _

“On one of your missions?”

“... Yes.”

The older angel gave a small hum, and she tried not to fidget too much or act nervous under her mother’s scrutiny. Luz forced herself to look her mother in the eyes.

“She’s not like anyone else I’ve ever met.”

Camila looked a little surprised at the “she”, but accepted the fact with little more than a nod. Luz breathed a sigh of relief. 

Same-sex couples weren’t uncommon in angel society, and they could still reproduce via miracles. Still, some angels saw same-sex relationships as improper, and believed that a male and female angel were meant to be together, two halves of one whole. It was an old way of thinking, but some still carried those views.

“Go on.”

“She’s headstrong and a little uptight, cold as ice if you get on her bad side. But, if you break down her walls, she’s caring and protective, compassionate and wickedly smart.”

  
  


_ Molten golden eyes burning through her, and white fangs gleaming as Amity smiled. _

_ “Would you like to do this again next week?” _

_ Luz answered almost too fast. _

_ “Yes, please.” _

_ The archangel’s smile stretched wider, her usual caution seemingly thrown to the wind. She felt this  _ thing,  _ this heat in her stomach burn even hotter. _

_ Burning, burning, burning. _

  
  


“Well, it sounds like you met someone special.”

“I guess so.”

The older angel unclasped her hands, looking Luz directly in the eyes. The silence between them wasn’t uncomfortable, but their conversation didn’t seem finished yet. She ached to tell her everything, about Eda, about Amity, but her mother didn’t need that kind of burden to carry on top of everything else.

“But I don’t know how I feel about her yet.”

Camila hummed again.

“This is why you’re asking about your father.”

It wasn’t a question, and Luz nodded.

“I don’t know when I fell in love with him, corazón. Perhaps it was the first time I saw him, perhaps it was when he gave me that flower. Perhaps it was even when he held you for the first time, and we were finally all together.”

She frowned a bit, and Camila picked up on her mood change quickly.

_ That isn’t a very satisfying answer. _

“But… when I was with your father, I felt… right. Happy and content. Warm.”

_ Ah. _

_ Oh. _

Luz’s frown deepened, and her mother laughed at the look on her face.

“Mija, what’s bothering you so much?”

“It just… I feel warm and happy when I’m with Willow, or even Gus! What’s the difference then?”

Camila adopted a thoughtful expression, eyes seeking something in Luz’s. She squirmed again.

“It’s a different kind of warmth. I can’t really explain it, mija, it’s like this sense of rightness that you feel. If that helps any.”

_ Well, not really. _

_ This is how hopeless I am! _

_ Do I just like Amity as a friend? _

_ It feels different… but now I don’t know what I’m feeling. _

“Thanks, mami.”

“Anytime. I want to meet this angel soon, though!”

“... Maybe one day.”

~~~

**Luz 7:56 pm:** have you ever been in love?

  
  


**Willow 7:58 pm:** …

**Willow 7:59 pm:** Is there a reason that you’re asking this?

  
  


**Luz 7:59 pm:** shhhh in a minute

**Luz 8:00 pm:** just answer the question 

  
  


**Willow 8:01 pm:** Well, I think so

  
  


**Luz 8:01 pm:** and?? what's it like

  
  


**Willow 8:01 pm:** Hmmm

**Willow 8:01 pm:** Warm.

  
  


**Luz 8:02 pm:** that's what my mom said

**Luz 8:02 pm:** very helpful willow

  
  


**Willow 8:02 pm:** You asked!?

**Willow 8:04 pm:** It’s like, if you drank a cup of something warm, and the feeling spreads through your whole body when they look at you.

  
  


**Luz 8:04 pm:** hmmm

**Luz 8:05 pm:** so, who are you in love with?

  
  


**Willow 8:05 pm:** That’s a very personal question that I am NOT going to tell you!

  
  


**Luz 8:05 pm:** oh come on :(

**Luz 8:06 pm:** my best friend is in love, and she won't even give me a hint

**Luz 8:06 pm:** unbelievable

  
  


**Willow 8:07 pm:** Fine

**Willow 8:08 pm:** They are a bit oblivious, but very sweet and considerate of my feelings.

  
  


**Luz 8:08 pm:** they sound charming

  
  


**Willow 8:08 pm:** Sometimes

**Willow 8:08 pm:** Now tell me why you’re asking

  
  


**Luz 8:09 pm:** welll… I think I like someone… but I have very conflicting feelings about the whole thing

  
  


**Willow 8:10 pm:** Is it someone that I know?

  
  


**Luz 8:10:** uhhhh… please don’t hate me

  
  


**Willow 8:10 pm:** Luz, don’t you dare.

  
  


**Luz 8:11 pm:** it may or may not be amity

  
  


**Willow 8:11 pm:** … 

**Luz 8:11 pm:** im sorry!! i know its bad

**Luz 8:12 pm:** don't kill me

**Luz 8:15 pm:** willow?

**Luz 8:41 pm:** you're probably mad, but please talk to me.

**Luz 9:50 pm:** goodnight willow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Luz: tells Willow that she thinks she’s in love with Amity
> 
> Willow: *internal screaming*


	20. You could have anyone you want.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Why would you want to be with me? I’m nothing special.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Decided to feature two comments this chapter because y’all absolutely exploded over the last one.... also why I’m posting two chapters in a day..... I swear I’m not burnt out I’m fine...........
> 
> “Luz, you have two perfectly functioning hands... Just sayin'”
> 
> \- AllTheRedBees
> 
> LUZ YOU HAVE TWO HANDS.... YOU CAN HAVE TWO GIRLFRIENDS.... (this made me laugh for about thirty minutes, thank you dear reader)
> 
> “See, if it was any other author writing this, I'd be content with these happy, fluffy chapters, but given that it's y o u, I'm absolutely terrified this is just buttering us up for a truckload of angst out of nowhere XD  
> Seriously though, really liking this AU :3 can't wait to read more”
> 
> \- Wardides
> 
> *rubs hands together* baby you better put your seatbelt on, because imma hit you with an 18-wheeler full of angst. Buckle up folks
> 
> Also- https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Dj32Ea_4SGI
> 
> Mystery link! Where will it take you? Perhaps to the song of the chapter... but who knows?

When she woke up, Luz found the window open and a letter sitting on her desk.

Blinking sleep out of her eyes, she squinted at the offending piece of paper, laying there oh so innocently. Rolling out of bed, she felt her heart drop at the single feather that lay next to the letter. Other than that, the envelope was plain, inconspicuous.

Luz tore open the letter, frustration in her actions.

_ How does that owl even get past the gates? The guards? _

Unfurling the enclosed paper, she read the short note that Eda had written.

  
  


_ Angel Noceda, _

_ I just realized that I never caught your first name. Maybe you’ll tell me in your response? After all, you know my first and last name, and I wish for our relationship to be fair. A secret for a secret, or however that human expression goes. _

_ Your first little assignment is simple, we’re starting off easy. I’d like to know how many angels and archangels Belos currently has in active service. A rough estimate is fine. In return, I’ll tell you a little about some of the half-breeds I’ve had the pleasure of knowing. _

_ Good luck kid! _

_ \- Eda (And King) _

  
  


Luz huffed, tossing the letter back down on her desk. She’d gone to bed in a bad mood, Willow having completely ignored her messages after she’d told her about Amity. A quick glance at her scroll told her that the angel had now read them, but still hadn’t replied.

Her bad mood had only gotten worse with Eda’s “assignment”. 

_ Where am I supposed to find this information? _

_ If this is easy, what does she think is hard? _

_ Maybe they keep archives…  _

Luz felt a sense of frustration, sinking back down on the bed. A trip to the archives would cost a whole day’s worth of work, and even then she wasn’t guaranteed to find the information. Also, she’d probably really messed things up with Willow now.

_ Who falls in love with someone who emotionally traumatized their best friend as a child? _

_ And I don’t even know if I’m in love with Amity! _

She felt useless. 

Maybe, if she’d never met Amity, her life wouldn’t be upside down. Maybe, she would’ve never met Eda and King, never gotten roped into all of this mess. She probably would be hanging out with Willow and Gus, laughing, without a care in the world.

Luz glanced at her scroll again, eyes catching on the archangel’s contact.

_ Maybe… _

_ She might know the answer to Eda’s question.  _

She felt her stomach sink at the thought, at the very idea of using Amity like that. Luz couldn’t do that to her, to make her unknowingly betray her own kind. It was sick.

_ But, it’s just one small question. Not even that confidential.  _

_ Anyone could figure it out. _

The little voice in the back of her head chimed in, tempting her to ask. It really was just a simple question, and if Amity didn’t know, then she didn’t know. It  _ would _ save a lot of time… 

Luz felt her fingers type out a quick message, controlled by that little voice, disconnected from the rest of herself screaming no.

  
  


**Luz 9:09 am:** do you know how many angels and archangels are in service currently?

  
  


The archangel replied almost instantaneously.

  
  


**Amity 9:09 am:** I do actually, yes.

**Amity 9:10 am:** Is there any reason that you’re asking?

  
  


**Luz 9:10 am:** just curious 

  
  


_ Liar. _

  
  


**Amity 9:11 am:** Well, there are about 13,982 angels and 1,224 archangels currently serving, according to our most recent estimations.

**Amity 9:12 am:** That’s about a fourth of our current working population.

  
  


**Luz 9:12 am:** impressive blight

  
  


**Amity 9:13 am:** Of course you’d think so, bookworm.

  
  


**Luz 9:13 am:** that’s low, even for you

  
  


She was distracted from her next text to the archangel by a sudden message that popped up on her screen. Luz tapped on it, heart stuttering when she registered who it was from.

  
  


**Willow 9:13 am:** I’m in the park.

**Willow 9:14 am:** If you have any time to swing by.

  
  


**Luz 9:14 am:** i’ll be there soon

  
  


She shut her scroll off, staring up at the ceiling. A heavy sigh sounded in the small space.

Luz felt sick as she sat back down at her desk, writing out a quick letter to Eda with the information Amity gave her, not elaborating on anything. Licking the envelope shut, she dug the coin out of her drawer and flipped it three times, before shoving it back where it came from.

Leaving the window open for the owl as she left her room, Luz tried not to think about what she’d just done.

~~~

The day was dreary, a fog having rolled in that never burned off. As she landed, Luz noticed that there were few angels around, no one wanting to stay outside while the weather was like this. Tendrils of mist curled around her, giving the place an eerie quality.

It was hard to see, but she followed a familiar path until that old oak suddenly loomed in front of her. Willow sat under it, staring at nothing, a half-read book abandoned next to her.

“Willow?”

The raven haired angel turned towards her, eyes empty and distant.

“So, you showed up.”

Her voice was flat as Luz took a seat across from her. Willow looked her in the eyes, but it felt like she was staring through Luz rather than at her. She frowned at the tone in her friend’s voice, all bitterly cold.

_ Like Amity used to be. _

She didn’t want to think about the archangel now.

“Why wouldn’t I?”

Willow leaned against the tree, casting her eyes up, staring at the fog-hidden canopy above them. 

“Thought you would’ve been busy hanging around with your archangel, all cozied up together on a gloomy day like this.”

_ What? _

Luz didn’t understand the bitterness in Willow’s voice, and felt caught off guard by her words. When her friend glanced back down at her again, there was pain in those green eyes.

“No… we’re not like that.”

Willow gave a small hum, looking back at the sky.

“Yet.”

She frowned, still confused and now slightly irritated at the angel. Her day seemed to be getting even worse, from Eda, then the weather, and now Willow was acting like  _ this.  _ It wasn’t right.

“And what do you mean by that?”

_ Pain.  _

_ Longing. _

_ Bitterness. _

These were the emotions in her friend’s eyes.

“I mean, I’m not too happy that you’re in love with Amity, of  _ all  _ people.”

Luz felt her wings bristle, not bothering to hide her scowl anymore for Willow’s sake.

“First of all, I don’t even  _ know _ how I feel. Secondly, I know that you and Amity haven’t been on great terms for a long time, but I’m guessing that she’s changed a lot lately.”

The raven haired angel huffed, practically rolling her eyes.

“And, I know that this is probably hard for you, but you could at least try to help me, because I feel lost  _ all the time  _ trying to figure things out. All the while, you're acting like this.”

Willow finally tore her eyes away from the sky, and the expression in them was almost unbearable to look at. It was deep, so very heavy and hurt. It didn’t belong there.

_ She looks broken. _

The angel’s voice was quiet.

“You want my help? Stop being around Amity.”

Luz felt a vein in her forehead throb, her temper rising.

“Well, that seems pretty selfish of you!”

“Because I care about you, and I don’t want to see her hurt you like she hurt me!”

Willow’s voice rose to a fever pitch, carrying across the park. If anyone else was around, they would’ve stopped in their tracks and stared at the two of them. She seemed to regret her outburst, guilt on her face as she settled back down.

“She will hurt you, you know. She’ll break your heart.”

Luz raised an eyebrow at the raven haired angel, still a little unsettled by how she was acting. The scowl on her face only deepened.

“How are you so sure?”

Willow sighed, shaking her head. All traces of good humor that usually lit up her friend’s face were gone. Luz barely recognized her.

“Because that’s how archangels are. Once they get tired of you, or decide that you’re dragging their status down, they get rid of you.”

Despite her anger, she felt a flare of sympathy, and guilt.

_ She seems sad. _

_ Tired. _

“When you two get together, you’ll be happy for a bit. Then the reality of life catches up and she’ll leave you behind. There’s a reason why angels and archangels don’t date.”

Luz was tired too.

“I don’t even know if she likes me like that.”

Suddenly, Willow stood up, dried leaves crackling beneath her feet. She shook her head in disgust, looking her dead in the eyes.

“Christ, Luz, you really have no idea, do you? The effect you have on people.”

She let the angel walk away, too caught up in her own anger to fully comprehend what Willow was saying.

Before the fog completely swallowed her, Luz looked up and saw that her friend’s hands were shaking.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha what? I’m fine. Totally not writing Willow’s unrequited love for Luz based on my own personal experiences. I wouldn’t do that!
> 
> Things that are giving me brain rot rn:
> 
> \- the fuckin “I rice (rise)” meme  
> \- an animatic I saw of Amity saying “Fine, I guess you are my little pogchamp. C’mere.”  
> \- an edit of inner willow to Tyler the Creator’s Gone Gone/ Thank You that I’ve been watching for three days straight now


	21. Kiss it better?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “I love this fic so much and what's your secret how do you update so fast? Still, love this. I'm used to writing angst so everytime you write angst I can see the feelings behind it in the way that "oh yeah let's destroy the readers". At some point during this chapter I was like "what if willow had a crush on amity as kids too and is talking from experienced so it hurts two times worse"”
> 
> \- CEO_of_Angst
> 
> The secret is..... I don’t sleep 😉. It is currently 2am and I am thriving. Anyhow, I head cannon Willow as having a crush on Amity when they were kids, and I suppose that was kinda reflected in the backstory chapter? *shrugs* I have no thoughts, only angst
> 
> Hello yes this chapters is literally just Hurt/Comfort, with a little something extra at the end ;)

“You should talk to her.”

Luz let out a hiss of pain as Amity dabbed at the wound on her thigh. Part of her was put into a trance by how gentle her hands were, and the rest of her wanted to scream curses at whatever she was using to clean the wound.

“I _tried,_ she won’t respond to anything I send her.”

Two weeks.

It’d been _two weeks,_ without a shred of communication between Willow and her. It was like her friend had disappeared off the face of the Isles.

If they were even still friends, that is.

She’d messaged Gus a few days ago, but he didn’t have any answers. Willow had been ghosting him too, it seemed.

“I could help if I knew the context behind your argument.”

_Yeah, that isn’t happening._

“It’s fine. She can’t ignore me forever.”

_She could._

Amity’s fingers probed the wound, and Luz grit her teeth to keep from wincing again. The cut wasn’t that bad, about an eighth of an inch deep, but it was a clean slice. 

This particular injury had been her fourth one these past couple weeks, the first a sprained finger, the second and third large, colorful bruises that bloomed like flowers on her leg and ribs. Now, the archangel’s glaive had cut her by accident, something that could’ve been avoided if she didn’t have her head in the clouds.

A fact that Amity kept reminding her of.

“Luz.”

She turned back towards the archangel, who was staring at her with obvious concern.

“You’re spacing out again.”

“Sorry.”

Amity sighed.

Luz felt like she was stuck in a rut. With all these injuries, she felt weak and helpless, and she could tell Amity was trying to hide it, but Luz could see the pity in her eyes. Eda’s latest letter lay unanswered beneath a pile of drawings, her not having the energy to get the woman any more information. 

On top of that, Luz felt like she’d lost her anchor, the person who grounded her and kept her in balance. Sure, she loved Gus with all her heart, but Willow was the person who she was closest to. The person she could bare her soul to.

Now, she felt… empty.

If it wasn’t for the weekly training sessions, Luz probably would’ve hidden in her room, only coming out for meals and to use the bathroom. 

A pair of warm hands wrapping a cotton bandage around her thigh jolted her back to reality. Amity gave her an apologetic look when she winced again, securing the bandage tightly.

“I told you, my mother is a healer, I could just miracle it myself.”

Amity shook her head.

“We just got done training for three and a half hours, you’re too drained to perform a healing spell.”

The archangel murmured something under her breath that Luz barely caught, embarrassment plain in her features.

“Sorry that I’m awful at healing.”

Despite the pain, she grinned at Amity. 

“What? Archangel Blight isn’t good at everything? Impossible!”

Amity scowled, but a tinge of pink still dusted her cheeks. She packed the medical supplies back in her bag, things that had been used more frequently nowadays than Luz would like to admit. Glancing down at her recently healed finger, she flexed it slowly, still sore even though the bruising had gone away.

“You know…”

Her voice was even, but Luz thought she saw a glimmer of disappointment in the archangel’s eyes.

“I don’t think I can keep training you in good conscience if you keep getting hurt like this.”

She knew that Amity was partly joking, but the words still stung anyway.

_Helpless._

_A disappointment._

_Of course she doesn’t want to train you, when you barely pay attention because you’re too busy thinking about Willow._

It wasn’t fair to Amity.

“Can you stand?”

“Probably.”

She took the archangel’s offered hand, wondering for the thousandth time how she kept them so soft. The moment Luz shifted her weight onto the injured leg, she felt all the blood drain from her face as the dull throbbing increased tenfold. Amity noticed instantly, quickly wrapping an arm around her waist to hold her upright.

“On second thought, maybe I should sit down for a few minutes.”

Nodding, Amity helped her over to one of the benches. Luz sank down, a sigh escaping her lips. The archangel sat next her, still offering some support as Luz leaned into her side.

“Amity…”

“No, I’m not letting you use a healing spell.”

She let out something that sounded like a groan, and Amity glanced at her, fangs tugging at her bottom lip in worry.

“I apologize for hurting you. I should’ve been paying better attention.”

Luz almost laughed.

“Well, I should’ve listened to you and gotten my head out of the clouds.”

The two of them fell into a silence, one that wasn’t necessarily uncomfortable. It just seemed… dead. Even leaning against the archangel, she felt like there was a mile between them, an invisible wall that had been lodged there.

Maybe she was the one causing it, unconsciously. 

Maybe she was afraid of her feelings.

_“She’ll break your heart.”_

Maybe she was scared that Willow was right.

That throbbing in her leg started again, and Luz tried to suppress the groan that slipped out of her mouth, attempting to pass it off as a yawn. Amity wasn’t fooled, looking her dead in the eyes.

“How bad does it hurt?”

She knew there was no point in lying.

“Like on a scale of 1-10, a six.”

The archangel sighed, standing up from the bench before kneeling in front of Luz. She looked down at her, confused.

“Don’t be surprised if this doesn’t work. It’s not- I’m not good at… fixing things.”

Amity sounded slightly bitter, but that familiar intensity shone in her eyes. She stretched out her hands before placing them on Luz’s bandage, closing her eyes. Amity’s brow crinkled slightly in concentration, hands warm on her leg.

_That’s kind of cute._

Luz was eternally grateful that the archangel had her eyes shut, not seeing the blush that spread across her cheeks.

Several long seconds passed, and eventually Amity’s hands adopted a faint glow, growing hotter. She could feel her skin knitting back together, an odd sensation, and eventually the glow faded, taking the pain with it.

Amity opened her eyes, pride shining in them, a small smile on her lips. It wasn’t an arrogant expression, more like the childish joy that comes with learning how to do something right for the first time. Her golden eyes sparkled, dancing with light and pulling Luz into them.

_By the heavens, she’s beautiful._

The moment suddenly felt charged, too heavy and intimate with things that were better left unsaid. Perhaps unconsciously, Amity’s fingers brushed softly against the bandage as she pulled her hand away, sending tingles up her leg. The sensation spread throughout Luz’s chest, jolting her heart and snapping her out of the daze she found herself in.

She cleared her throat, and the archangel jumped up, casting her eyes away.

“Can you move your leg?”

Luz extended it, feeling no more pain, none of that throbbing from earlier. She nodded.

Amity let out a breath of relief, shoulders sagging, and Luz tried to stand, finding no pain in the motion. She let out her own sigh of relief. 

_It worked._

Looking over, the archangel was leaning against one of the supports, stifling a yawn behind her hand. She frowned, noting the dark circles underneath her eyes for the first time, something that hadn’t been there a few minutes ago. 

The sun hadn’t even set yet, though it hung low in the sky.

“I’m guessing that we’re calling it quits for the day.”

Amity smiled, but the expression itself was tired. 

Even though Luz knew that she was probably really worn out, she was exhausted herself, there was a hesitation to leave just yet. She didn’t want to go back home alone, not having anyone to talk to. She didn’t want to wait a week until she got to see someone again.

“Amity?”

“Mhm.”

“Do you want to get a cup of nectar or something, since we ended early?”

The archangel’s face suddenly fell, and Luz frowned. Amity’s voice was delicate, as if she was choosing her next words carefully.

“Luz… I’d lo- like to, but… I’m still an archangel.”

_“Once they get tired of you, or decide that you’re dragging their status down, they get rid of you.”_

“And, it’s not exactly proper to be seen out with angels in a friendly manner.”

“Ah.”

She tried to ignore the crushing weight of disappointment in her chest, the melancholy yet resigned look on Amity’s face only dragging her mood down further.

_Not allowed._

_That’s what my feelings are._

_Not allowed._

Still, she wanted… 

She wanted to keep trying. She wasn’t going to lose Amity too.

“Maybe then… you’d like to come home with me?”

Amity’s cheeks went bright red, and a strangled little noise emerged from her throat, eyes meeting anything but Luz’s. She felt her own face burn when she realized why the archangel reacted like that, coughing awkwardly into her fist a few times.

“No, no, I meant like fly me home! Just to… you know, make sure I get back fine, with this gash in my leg and all. My mom is probably working late, so no one would even see you.”

Trying for humor to defuse the live bomb that she’d just activated, Luz leaned against the wall, attempting to play it cool.

_I just royally messed that up._

_Oh, please have mercy on my soul._

Amity’s face returned to it’s normal color, a smile slowly making its way to her face. Her tone was nonchalant, still not meeting Luz’s eyes.

“I suppose it would be a good idea to make sure you got back safely.”

_I’m going to die._

_She’s going to be the death of me._

Luz tried to contain her beaming grin as she followed Amity out the door.

~~~

**Willow’s POV**

She sat in the greenhouse, arms flecked with dirt, buckets around her overflowing with weeds that she’d pulled today.

Currently, Willow sat in the corner staring at her scroll, dirt smudging the screen. Dried tears still clung to her face, intermingling with the mud patches she knew were there.

_“Look at you, crying over some angel! Pick yourself up and fix the problem.”_

That’s what her dads would say if she told them about Luz.

Willow had been trying to fix it for the past hour, trying to find the right message to send to her.

  
  


**Willow:** Luz, I’m so sorry with how I reacted. Please, text me back when you get the chance.

  
  


She’d erased that.

  
  


**Willow:** Can we talk? There’s something important that I need to tell you, and hopefully you’ll understand then why I acted the way I did.

  
  


She’d erased that too.

Nothing seemed right, nothing the right thing to say in that moment.

_Maybe I can’t fix this._

_Maybe I’ve already lost her.  
  
_

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Amazing fan art of this fic, all credits go to RomanticWolf, @Jujunya4 on Twitter! I love this so so much, I’ve stared at it for over an hour total now. 
> 
> I could’ve, ya know, ended it without the willow POV, but no.... 
> 
> SUFFER


	22. Good intentions, bad luck

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "P A I N & A N G S T :'D  
> I have no idea how to explain how much I love this so I'm just gonna throw out reactions
> 
> G A Y F L U F F  
> GO LUZ! GET THE GIRL!  
> AMITY FUCKING KISS LUZ YOU LUZBIAN DISASTER  
> WILLOW MY POOR BBY NO JUST TALK TO LUZ TT0TT  
> S U F F E R I S H A L L"
> 
> \- ItzWolfiKun
> 
> GAY! PEOPLE!
> 
> maybe... we will have kiss soon... it's already 36k words....
> 
> Don't worry, Willow will eventually talk to Luz, but not before the *angst*.
> 
> Sorry that it took me so long to update, all my finals are now and it's just a ton of work studying for all of them :(. I also had pretty bad writers block this week, and last weekend was a nightmare with my job, so I'm finally posting this chapter.

**Amity’s POV**

She watched Luz’s hands shake as the angel took out her keys and unlocked the door. 

Though many people claimed otherwise, including her siblings, Amity couldn’t read minds. It would be  _ useful,  _ but she had to rely on her own intuition and instinct like everyone else. What intuition didn’t do was tell her exactly why Luz’s hands were trembling. While Luz was usually as easy to read as a book, her face was strangely closed off, not letting anyone in.

The angel could still have been in pain, could’ve been tired, or just nervous to have Amity in her house. It was a personal thing, inviting someone to your living space, a privilege reserved for friends and family.

_ I’m neither. _

Luz flicked on a light, revealing a well lived in, but empty space.

_ Am I her friend? _

_ Or, are we just two people forced together under unpleasant circumstances? _

_ Acquaintances at best. _

She surveyed the downstairs, from the kitchen with a small amount of dirty dishes in the sink, to the living room, a faded leather couch and coffee table taking up most of the space. Steps descended from the living room into what looked like a bedroom. 

It felt very… homey. Cozy in a way that her parents’ estate or even her own flat could never be. 

The walls were a light red-orange, the tile a soft cream, and the furniture in varying shades of brown and tan. Overall, it gave the house a warm feel. Comforting.

_ Much like Luz herself. _

Amity glanced up to find the angel watching her take in the house with an embarrassed sort of grin.

“I know it’s probably not as regal as you’re used to.”

Regal, yes, that was one word to describe her parents’ estate. All towering columns and fountains, marble statues that stood proud both inside and outside. But with regal, comes cold. Unforgiving.

There was a reason she’d moved out as soon as she turned eighteen.

“Well, maybe not, but I like it. It… suits you.”

Luz’s smile relaxed, seemed easier with Amity’s approval. Inwardly, she felt ill.

_ She wouldn’t have to seek my approval if we were friends. _

_ Friends are equal, and we could never be equal. _

_ Even if she makes me feel like I’m falling. _

“Come upstairs, I’ll show you my room.”

The angel’s smile dimmed again, filled with uncertainty. Suddenly, the cozy space felt too small, walls closing around her. Too intimate. Luz looked ethereal in the warm light, hair messy as ever, strands catching the late afternoon sun. She wanted to cross the distance between them, to fill the chasm that seemed ever-widening in her heart.

_ Control yourself. _

Amity reeled herself back in, numbly following the angel up the stairs.

Upstairs was just as quaint as downstairs, with a bathroom and another bedroom. A sliding door led to a patio outside, with wicker furniture that seemed mostly abandoned. Luz stepped into the bedroom, holding the door open for Amity, who nodded her thanks.

From the open window, a gust of wind slammed the door closed, causing Amity to yelp in a rather undignified manner. 

Just like that, the room seemed much too small for the both of them. 

_ Oh, great calamities above, I’m not going to make it out of here alive. _

Noticing the expression on her face, Luz let out a small laugh and sank down on her bed. She glanced around the bedroom, gesturing noncommittally with her hand.

“So, this is  _ mi casa.” _

Amity gingerly sat down at the desk, trying not to upset the many papers that littered its surface. She absentmindedly ran her thumb over the back of her knuckles while Luz yawned, the angel stretching her arms above her head.

“Is that a human saying?”

“Well, it’s Spanish.”

She gave a small hum, having always been confused by the vast amount of human languages that there were. Luz yawned again.

It was just barely evening, only around six, but the sun had already set due to the season and shortening of days. 

“Are you tired?”

Amity hated how soft her voice came out.

The angel responded by burying her face in the pillows. She had to suppress a laugh, feeling a love-struck smile cross her face at the sight. 

_ You're going soft, Blight. _

When Luz didn’t say anything else, Amity felt her heart sink, realizing that she'd probably overstayed her welcome.

_ Right. _

“I suppose I should get going.”

Luz rolled over, looking Amity straight in the eyes, a silent plea in her own despite the exhaustion.

“Please, stay.”

It felt like a double edged sword had been buried in her gut, the tone of the angel’s voice ripping her apart. 

_ She wants me to stay? _

“Why?”

“Just… please.”

As Amity searched for an answer in Luz’s eyes, nothing came to her. 

It was infuriating, not knowing.

“Okay.”

The angel rolled over again, wings spreading across the covers. Her reddish brown feathers blended with the bedspread, which was a dark orange and covered in sunflowers.

_ Warm. Always warm. Like a walking sun. _

She stared out the open window, wondering why Luz kept it open even when the weather was like this. A shiver passed through her when a bitter gust of wind blew in.

Snores turned her head, and she watched Luz’s form rise and fall with each breath. The motion was almost hypnotizing.

Amity recalled an old folk tale, a legend from a millennium ago that had been largely forgotten. It told of two angels from rival families that were drafted together on the same mission, and made partners. The two angels were at each other’s throats for weeks, unwilling to cooperate and risk bringing shame to their families.

One day, the two of them encountered a massive thunderstorm, and were forced to seek shelter in a cave. Begrudgingly, they agreed to set up a system of night watches, one sleeping while the other kept a lookout. The angels fell into a rhythm, waking each other every few hours, one protecting the other while they slept. Before that, neither of them had dared fall asleep while the other was on duty, lest they wake up to find their throat slit.

And so, the story tells that because of those two angels, it became the ultimate sign of trust if one fell asleep while someone else was around. It meant that the angel was entrusting their safety to that other person. 

_ She’s vulnerable right now. _

Amity felt a lump in her throat.

Luz looked so young, so very small curled up like that on the bed. Not someone who deserved the hardships that she’d been dealt in life.

_ She didn’t deserve this kind of trauma. _

_ She didn’t deserve to lose her friend. _

_ … I don’t deserve her. _

Exhaling, Amity crossed her arms on the desk, resting her chin on top of her hands. She felt her eyes shut, resolving to stay there for only a minute. Maybe… two.

She was so very tired.

~~~

**Luz’s POV**

The cold and the sound of a door slamming closed jolted her awake.

“Mija?”

Her mother’s voice carried up the stairs, startling Luz even further. She tried to blink the sleep out of her eyes, throwing the blankets off of her and rolling out of bed.

“Sorry I'm back so late! Did I wake you?”

Footsteps echoed on the stairs.

“I was about to get up anyway!”

Suddenly, a soft snore grabbed her attention, causing Luz to glance towards her desk.

_ Oh. _

_ Oh no. _

Amity was passed out there, head resting on crossed arms. The archangel’s hair was falling out of her half-ponytail, mint strands hanging across her face and fluttering with each exhale. Her wings were relaxed, tips of white feathers brushing against the floor with the rise and fall of Amity’s chest.

_ Oh heavens. _

Camila’s footsteps stopped outside her door, and a soft knock came from the other side. Luz scrambled to her feet, racking her brain for an excuse.

_ She  _ can’t  _ see Amity. _

_ That would lead to the world’s most awkward conversation. _

“I’m not dressed right now!”

Luz could practically feel her mother’s frown through the door as she held her breath.

“Mija, it’s freezing outside.”

“Uhh, I was… really hot after training yesterday… and I fell asleep before I could take a shower?”

_ Please buy it. _

Camila was silent for a couple of seconds, weighing how truthful she was being. Meanwhile, Luz had her fingers crossed, praying that Amity wouldn't choose that moment to wake up and make any extra noise.

“Alright, take a shower then, I don't need you stinking up the house.”

As her mother’s footsteps echoed back down the hall, she let out a sigh of relief. Glancing back towards the sleeping archangel, Luz rubbed her neck as she tried to decide what she should do.

_ Do I wake her up? _

_ Let her sleep and then hide her in here until Mami leaves for her next shift? _

_ No, that’s a bad idea. _

Cautiously, she walked over to the desk, carefully extending a hand to tap Amity’s shoulder. The archangel didn’t move, breathing still even. Frowning, Luz shook her shoulder a little harder.

Amity jolted upright, throwing her hand off, a wild look in her eyes. She took a step back, waiting for the archangel to take in her surroundings and calm down a little. Slowly, the tense energy drained from Amity’s body, and she glanced around Luz’s room.

Eventually, the archangel’s eyes sought her own.

“Where… did I fall asleep?”

As Amity became more aware of where she was, the panic in her eyes only seemed to get worse.

“The thing is, mom got home early… and the only way out is through the front door.”

The archangel’s eyes widened as she took in this new bit of information, and her wings started twitching. 

_ I’m screwed. _

_ She’s going to kill me. _

“Unless you can fit through the window.”

Amity looked towards the window, and then back at her, incredulous. The window was about two feet across, something the archangel might be able to fit through had she not had a twelve foot wingspan.

“I do hope that you're joking.”

“A bit, yeah.”

Luz’s mind raced, scrambling for an idea while Amity glared at her.

“Well, when she gets back from a shift, Mami usually puts all her stuff away and then takes a shower.”

The archangel raised an eyebrow.

“So… when you hear running water, try to sneak out the door.”

She stared at Luz for a second, before rubbing her temples and letting out a heavy sigh. 

“I would say that’s a stupid idea, but sadly I have nothing better.”

Just then, the faint sound of water came from downstairs. She grinned a little at Amity, as if to say “I told you so”. The archangel gave her a half-hearted scowl, slowly stepping towards the door and turning the handle. She sighed again.

“Wish me luck.”

“You don't need luck.”

Amity gave her a small smile.

“Don’t I? I’d say that my luck has been pretty abysmal lately.”

Before Luz could respond, she was out of the room, pulling the door closed behind her.

_ Good luck, Amity. _

She counted the seconds, hoping with all her soul that the archangel would make it out. The house was quiet, and she could hear every step that Amity took. Suddenly, they faltered.

Apparently, Luz’s luck was pretty abysmal too.

After a few more torturous seconds, her mother’s voice drifted up the stairs again, sounding strained.

“Luz, can you come downstairs?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Camila: ...
> 
> Amity: ...
> 
> Camila: ...
> 
> Amity: so, do you come here often?
> 
> Camila: I live here
> 
> Last week, I took the Myers-Brigg test, and apparently I have the same personality type as Amity? I guess that's why I relate to her so much. Go ISTJ squad!


	23. How I met your mother

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> see, see what I did with the chapter title there? I did the thing, cause ya know, Amity is meeting Luz's mother but it's also the name of a popular show??? *wheezes in gay*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "OK BUT THE FACT THAT LUZ SAID SHE WASN'T DRESSED
> 
> Camila: I've connected the two dots  
> Luz: you didn't connect shit-  
> Camila: I've connected them"
> 
> \- idk (yes that's actually the username)
> 
> Luz is currently dying on the inside, and Camila is just confused as all hell 😂
> 
> SORRY I KEEP TAKING AGES TO UPDATE, I'LL GET BETTER AT UPDATING I SWEAR-
> 
> Also unrelated note, I've now remade my IG account, @rain.bowjeff, and I'm posting art from my fics on there, so if that's something that interests you, check it out!
> 
> ok back to the show

_Oh, I’m so screwed._

Her feet dragged down the carpeted stairs, praying that her mother hadn’t called her because of Amity. Praying that it was some other reason.

_It’s too soon to do this._

_I’m not ready for this conversation._

She eventually reached the bottom of the stairs, where her mother stood, frowning at her. With a quick glance to the right, she spotted Amity, head hanging with a grimace on her face. A pang echoed in her chest.

Camila folded her arms and looked Luz right in the eyes.

“Would you like to tell me why there is an archangel attempting to sneak out of my house?”

She rubbed the back of her neck, looking at Amity for another quick second.

“Ah, well…” 

Luz trailed off, and her mother waved her hand impatiently for her to continue.

“This is the uhh… friend, I mentioned the other day.”

  
An uncomfortable silence descended upon the room. She watched Camila’s eyebrows raise the slightest bit in surprise, digesting this new piece of information. Amity seemed to shrink in on herself, feathers bristling unconsciously.

“She’s been training me lately.”

Her mother finally released Luz from her penetrating gaze and instead fixed it on the archangel.

“So, you’re the one who’s been sending my daughter home with all these bruises.”

_This is not going well._

Amity opened her mouth to say something, arms crossing over her chest defensively and wings bristling even more. She stepped in before the archangel could say anything to make the already awkward situation worse.

“It’s not Amity’s fault! I’ve been a little… distracted lately.”

Luz shot a sheepish glance at Amity, who didn’t even glance at her, still staring at her mother with a hesitant and unsure expression. Camila gave her a once over, before studying the archangel again. Amity squirmed slightly under her gaze, and the older angel adopted a small smile, looking towards Luz again.

“I can see why.”

It was quiet for a few moments before Camila spoke again, directed towards the archangel.

“Amity, was it?”

She lifted her head, finally looking at Luz before turning towards her mother.

“Amity Blight, ma’am.”

Camila seemed legitimately surprised at that, looking from the archangel back to her daughter, eyebrows raised in a slightly disbelieving expression.

“A Blight! Where on the Isles did you find her, mija?”

  
Luz felt a little bit of the tension drain out of her, putting on a relieved smile, knowing that if her mother was making jokes, the worst was over. Amity, on the other hand, was standing strangely, like she was bracing herself for something. Almost… like she was expecting to be slapped or yelled at.

Her returning words were quieter than she intended.

“A cafe, actually.”

The tips of Amity’s ears went red, and she shot a silent, pleading look at Luz. She gave her a slight reassuring nod. 

“Well, you’re going to have to tell me all about it now.”

Camila sat down on the couch, an almost smug look on her face at Luz and Amity’s panicked expressions. She adopted a pleading look on her face, begging her mother to reconsider.

“Mami, you just got home from an overnight shift, don’t you need to sleep?”

The older angel looked incredulous and a bit amused, settling her weight more comfortably into the couch. She waved a hand between the two of them.

“Luz, don’t lecture me on sleeping when I doubt you spent last night doing just that.”

Forget the tips of her ears, Amity’s entire face now looked like it had been doused in tomato juice. It took a couple of seconds for her to realize what Camila was insinuating, and once she did, her entire face burned like the surface of the sun. 

“Mami, no! I was very tired after training yesterday, and Amity flew me home! She didn’t even, we didn’t- she fell asleep at my desk.”

Her mother gave a small hum, cutting off Luz’s ramblings as she tried to rectify the situation.

“I see."

_Please kill me now._

Camila clapped her hands together, startling the both of them.

“Well, Amity, take a seat. You too, mija. I want to get to know you better!”

Luz and Amity exchanged slightly horrified looks. The archangel’s face was still a light shade of pink, and she wouldn't meet Luz’s eyes.

_Well, this is going to be a nightmare and a half._

“Oh, that reminds me! I have to get the baby pictures.”

_Heavens have mercy._

“No!”

~~~

**Amity’s POV**

Camila Noceda was… kind.

She was a kindhearted angel, much like Luz herself. Amity shouldn’t really be surprised, Luz had to get her good nature from somewhere, and Camila was like the older, slightly less energetic version of her.

The two of them seemed to be in harmony together, even if Luz was currently trying to wrestle some photos out of her mother’s hands while she tried to contain her laughter. Being in this house, it made Amity feel… light. Slightly less burdened than usual.

She was sure though, that Camila would wring her neck if anything happened to Luz, and it was her fault. She’d seen how defensive the older angel had been of her daughter after she’d just caught Amity trying to sneak out of the house.

Camila Noceda was someone she never wanted to be on the bad side of.

“Mami, I forbid you from showing Amity any of my baby photos!”

“I’m your mother, you can’t forbid me from doing anything!”

As Luz tried and failed to grab the pictures, Amity felt an ache in her chest watching the two of them. They were such a perfect family, happy and content in this warm little house. They didn’t need anything else.

She suddenly felt like an intruder, which she practically was.

Amity cleared her throat, putting on a polite smile.

“Ms. Noceda, is it alright if I use the restroom?”

Camila and Luz stopped fighting for a second, and the older angel nodded at her.

“Of course you can, it’s just upstairs on the left.”

She inclined her head towards the older angel, and stood. Amity could almost feel their eyes on her back and she ascended the stairs, heading away from the commotion just to compose herself for a second.

_Why?_

_Why is everything about Luz so wonderful?_

_I feel like I’m just dragging her down._

Leaning against the wall by the angel’s bedroom, she let out a heavy sigh. Even Luz’s mother was wonderful, despite being slightly terrifying at times. In comparison, Amity seemed too broken for her.

A flawed archangel.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a chime from Luz’s room. She poked her head in to see the angel’s scroll light up, a text from someone lingering on the screen.

_Leave it alone, Amity._

_But it could be important…_

Curiosity eventually won out, and she stepped into the room, peering at Luz’s scroll.

  
  


**Willow 10:22 am:** Luz, I just wanted to say that I’m deeply sorry for how I acted the last time we spoke. It’s… complicated, my reasons behind it, but I want you to know that I’m sorry. I care about you a great deal, and I love seeing you happy, seeing your smile. It pains me more than you know to be the thing that’s causing you unhappiness right now. I understand that you care about Amity, but I care about you, and I really don’t want you hurt because of her.

  
  


Another message popped up on the screen.

  
  


**Willow 10:25 am:** I don’t want to do this over text, so please, when you get this, I’ll be waiting for you. I’ll always wait for you.

  
  


She felt sick to her stomach. The room felt like it was spinning, the carpet a dizzying blur under her feet. In fact, everything seemed blurry.

Something wet fell down her face, landing between her feet.

_Am I… crying?_

_Oh, calamities above._

_I’m going to lose her._

_I’m going to lose her, the only person who gave my life any meaning. I’m going to lose her, when I never should’ve had her in the first place._

Amity felt her knees give out under her, and she sank to the floor.

_Of course Willow would have the courage to tell Luz how she feels, when I can barely stand being in the same room as such… such_ joy, _because it reminds me of how miserable my own life is._

Amity’s heart hurts, and she knows that the angel is going to find her there eventually, sobbing on the floor.

But she can’t move. She knows that she should, but she doesn’t have enough energy to run anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Camila: I know you two are sleeping together
> 
> Amity: 👁🍅👁
> 
> Luz: .....
> 
> Luz: WHAT 
> 
> Amity: 👁🍅👁
> 
> Camila: 👀


	24. Love game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hehe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Judge: so whats the issue here
> 
> Everyone reading this fic: 3 *plays sweater weather, girl in red, and everybody talks*...love traingle...one the literal sun, second emotionally unavailable, 3rd..mommy, Daddy, issues...and lil miss perfect. Help
> 
> Judge...POLYA-
> 
> You see jeff? THE PROBLEM IS SOLVED DAMMIT WHY ANGST WHO HURT YOU"
> 
> \- Ak_Ari_215
> 
> SHGGFHSAGHFGSAGFJGFKKA SHUSH WE DON'T NEED TO TALK ABOUT MY PROBLEMS
> 
> er, I think the summary accurately describes this chapter, at least from my perspective

Luz does eventually find her there. 

It’s pitiful really, how she knows she looks, tears dripping down her cheeks while her wings hang limply. Amity doesn't know how long she’s been there, but it’s been long enough to have her eyes turn red.

Such is the state that the angel finds her in.

“Amity?”

Luz’s voice, curious at first before she looks at her, becomes laced with concern.

“Amity, what’s wrong? Why are you crying?”

She hides her face in her hands, unwilling and unable to let her see any more tears. It’s been ages since she last broke down like this, not to mention in front of anyone.

_ “It’s shameful”, my mother would say. _

_ “Disgusting and unmannerly, to act this way, especially in front of an angel.” _

Right now, she wishes she was better at hiding her feelings.

_ Cold and unwavering is what I used to be. It’s what is expected of me. _

_ I used to be as harsh and unforgiving as steel. Tough skinned, steadfast, and strong. No one knew what lay behind my walls. Nowadays, I'm more like glass. Fragile, delicate, brittle, and you could see my heart as clearly as if it was displayed on a shelf. _

_ I can’t decide which way is better. _

The angel kneels by her side, and she feels a pair of strong arms wrap around her, but so gentle. Equally gentle hands push tear soaked strands of Amity’s hair away from her face. Luz ever so softly takes her hands and pushes them down, so she can look into Amity’s eyes. There’s so much concern and worry there, written all over the angel’s face.

It confuses her.

Luz brings a hand up, hesitating for just a moment before brushing a tear away with her thumb. Gently, always gently, she lets her palm rest on Amity’s cheek.

Just this once, she lets herself lean into the touch.

The angel’s eyes soften just a bit more.

“Why are you crying?”

The question is easy, but her answer is not.

_ You. _

But that’s not what she wants to say, and it’s not really true either. Luz has done nothing wrong. It’s Amity’s own fault, why she’s crying on the floor of the angel’s room, after her own curiosity ruined everything.

_ I’m so very selfish, aren’t I? _

“It’s a stupid reason.”

Luz frowns.

“How? I’ve never seen you like this, so the reason shouldn’t be stupid at all.”   
  


_ Oh, but it is! _

_ Love is a fool's game, yet I couldn't help but roll the dice.  _

Amity pulls away, furiously wiping tears from her face in effort to maintain at least some dignity. 

“I’ll be fine.”

_ Liar.  _

She makes her way to stand, but Luz’s hand on her forearm tightens, so she huffs and settles back on the floor. The angel looks at her with pleading, puppy dog eyes, and it’s a wonder to Amity how she doesn’t have the world at her feet. 

“Please, talk to me. You can trust me.”   


_ Do I trust you?  _

_ I shouldn’t. _

“Not… with this.”

Luz looks so sad, and she feels her heart crack, shards of broken glass falling to the floor. She covers Luz’s hand with her own, but only to slowly remove it from her arm.

“Is your mother still waiting on us? I’d rather her not see me like this.”

The angel is staring off into space, at some point above her left shoulder, so Amity clears her throat delicately. Luz’s eyes snap back to hers, the weight of the world in them. It seems to her like the two of them are carrying equally heavy weights on their shoulders, and it would be so much easier just to share the burden together.

But she can’t.

“No, she actually went downstairs to take a shower this time.”

Luz offers her a small smile, but it’s pained.

_ Always smiling, always laughing.  _

_ Is this what I do to her? Steal her joy away? _

“Well, I should leave before she gets out.”

This whole thing feels rushed. Amity wants to leave, to avoid any more consequences, but she also wants to stay. Wants to pour her heart out to the angel sitting in front of her, wants to sob into her shoulder. She wants to be  _ selfish,  _ just this once.

But she can’t.

“I guess that’s a good idea.”

This time, Luz is the first one to stand, but she doesn’t offer a hand to her. It feels like… betrayal. Which is ridiculous, to be betrayed, you had to have trust first. 

_ Maybe, I did trust her. _

Amity gets up by herself, wiping a stray tear off her face.

“I’ll see you later?”

The angel says it as a question, hesitation in her voice. She wants to say yes, but there’s a lump in her throat that won’t go away no matter how many times she swallows. Luz seems to deflate at the lack of an answer, and she can now see the dark circles beneath her eyes.

_ Say something! _

_ Be brave, for once in your life! _

“Luz… you should give Willow a chance.”

  
  
Luz seems surprised, but then confusion overtakes her face.

“What?” 

Amity bites her tongue, trying in vain to keep the words in, but they come out bitter and without control.

“She’s good for you.”

She can see something forming in Luz’s eyes, chasing away the confusion. The angel suddenly looks defiant.

“And you’re not?”

More glass fragments chip off of Amity, and pile at her feet as she tries to keep herself together.

“I-”

Luz cuts her off.

“Listen, Amity… I don’t know who told you otherwise, but you are worth everything, from the sun to the stars.”

_ “Stupid, worthless archangel! Why can’t you be more like your siblings?” _

A fresh tear slides down her face.

“And you don’t have to hide anything from me. You can tell me anything you want, and I'll never judge you for it. Okay?”

Her voice comes out small.

“Okay.”

With that, Luz steps away from the door and she leaves the room, mindless steps carrying her out of the house.

~~~

**Luz’s POV**

When Amity leaves, she punches her wall hard enough to shake the house. 

“Damn it!”

She feels something wet on her knuckles, and looks down to find that they’ve split, blood pooling in the divots between her fingers. Cursing, Luz looks around for some bandages, finding only an old shirt to wrap her hand in. She wraps the fabric around her knuckles, watching red stain the white cotton. 

_ Damn it! _

Luz grabs her scroll, intending to write out an apology to the archangel. 

_ She was sobbing on your floor, and you basically pushed her out of the house! _

_ And then, you gave her a lecture on self-worth! _

_ How rich, coming from you. _

When she opens her scroll, she sees the two messages from Willow, and instinctually clicks on them. 

Luz reads them.

Then she reads them again.

And it clicks for her.

_ Oh, Amity. I’m so sorry. I’m so very sorry. _

The archangel must’ve seen them pop up on her screen, for the messages are only twenty minutes old, right around the time when Amity went upstairs.

“Willow, you have  _ terrible  _ timing.”

_ Was she upset because of that, or was it something else? _

_ It seems like too much of a coincidence. _

Luz reads the messages for the third time, looking for anything that she might’ve missed. At a time like this, she can’t even feel happy that Willow finally responded to her.

Even though her friend wants to tell her something important, something that isn’t right to say over text, her mind keeps drifting back to Amity. 

_ Probably, what Willow said about hurting me didn't make her feel all that great. _

_ But why would just that drive her to tears? She’s tougher than that. _

_ Unless she saw a deeper meaning that I didn't.  _

_ “You should give Willow a chance.” _

“What chance?!”

The angry words burst out of Luz, frustrated at her own lack of understanding, and the jumbled mess of feelings that wouldn’t let her think straight. 

“What-”

She suddenly went still.

_ Oh.  _

A sunbeam shown through the window, illuminating her face, and providing Luz just a small amount of clarity. But it was enough. 

_ I am in love with Amity Blight.  _

_ Willow… she’s in love with me. That’s why she’s been so bitter. That’s why she hates Amity so much, because she knew before me. _

_ And Amity…  _

She bolts upright, nearly running out the room. 

As she approaches the front door, Luz hears her mother call after her, but she doesn’t stop. Her feet pound against the tile, driving her forward while she still has some of this clarity.

She knows just where the archangel will be.

When she clears the house, her wings spread, sunlight catching on her feathers and causing them to glow. Luz’s heartbeat is much too fast, but the rhythm in her chest drives fuels her furious speed as she soars through the clouds.

~~~   
  


When she lands on the island, the guards nod to Luz, opening the massive double doors to let her inside the training center.

There, she finds Amity beating up a punching bag with an intensity that frightens her, but not enough to derail her mission. 

The archangel looks up as she runs inside, lowering her stance.

She lets out a little squeak when Luz wraps her arms around her, kissing her like Amity is a breath of fresh air, and she’s starving for oxygen.

Her golden eyes are wider than she’s ever seen, when she pulls back and presses their foreheads together.

“Please forgive me, I love you, and I’m sorry.”

Luz thinks that she’s crying by now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The readers: ... 
> 
> Me: 😏
> 
> The readers: WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK
> 
> Me: 😏 *gay time*


	25. The two types of love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Due to the absolute ONSLAUGHT of comments, I'll be featuring two!
> 
> "Yo, it only took 24 chapters for Luz to stop being oblivious.  
> "Starving for oxygen" Hey we all gotta eat some oxygen sometimes. *licks lips and makes unsettling slurp-y consumption noises* Mmmmmmmm air Ψ(￣∀￣)Ψ"
> 
> \- Lekopoofball
> 
> that emoticon terrifies me, thank you. *CONSUMES GAY*
> 
> "Me, reading: "... kissing her..."  
> Me: ACK- *Destroys Funny bone against bed frame*  
> Mother: .... are you okay?...  
> Me: *rolling in joyful agony* :')"
> 
> \- Vivbib 
> 
> I WAS WHEEZING AT THIS COMMENT YESTERDAY.... joyful agony my god.... me when I write fluff after an angst chapter
> 
> on a completely unrelated note,,....,.,.,,,. YOU ARE MY FIIIRRREEE, MY ONE, DEESIIIRRRREEE
> 
> (it will all make sense)

The world is still, but her mind is not quiet. 

The logical and irrational parts of her brain scream at each other as Amity stares at her, struck speechless. Luz can’t quite believe what just happened, even with the remnants of their kiss still tingling on her lips. 

_ Why did you do that?! _

_ Because it felt right, that’s why! _

The irrational part of her mind is gloating now.

Amity brings a hand up, and brushes the tips of her fingers over her lips, never breaking eye contact. Her racing heart hasn’t quieted since she left the house, and Luz is sure that the archangel can hear it beating against her own chest.

Everything is still, for too long. 

She feels the tears that have welled up in her eyes slip down her cheeks.

_ Please, say something. _

Amity follows the tears, gaze casting to the floor when they fall. She doesn’t look back up.

“Why me?”

Her question doesn’t make sense. Why not Amity? Who else would it be?    
  
Willow?   
  
She loves Willow, yes, but like a friend. Someone who’s always been there for her in the roughest times, someone who she can lean on. Luz does love Willow, but in a different way than how she loves the archangel.    
  
It’s more… raw. Hesitant uncertainty lingers with this type of love, and it’s painful in a way. It’s like flames, licking at her heart. They warm her, but feed the flame too much, and it would eventually burn her away.

Her love towards Willow is more like a stream, easy and flowing, providing a constant source of refreshment when the flames grow too high.

Luz realizes then, that she needs both of them, equally but in different ways. Fire and water together. She needs Willow’s calming friendship, and she needs Amity’s fiery love.

“Why’d you pick me, over her? When I bring you nothing but unhappiness?”

The archangel still won’t look at her, but her words carry so much bitterness and pain that Luz doesn’t need to see the expression on her face. 

“I’m not unhappy.”

Amity glances up, and she offers her a small smile.

“I’m not unhappy.”

She furrows her eyebrows, and for once, some of Luz’s signature confusion is in her eyes. 

“You’re crying?”

It’s a funny thing, this type of love. It takes just the smallest spark to start a wildfire, or a bolt of lightning. It burns everything out of desperation to be kindled, to be kept alive and roaring. Bridges are burned because of this type of love. Things are hurt, and destroyed.

When contained, when kept healthy, this new type of love that she feels could brighten her heart and soul until death. A warm hearth. A flickering candle, to guide her in the darkness and in times of uncertainty. 

This love brings fear too, of the candle or hearth being snuffed out, extinguished. To lose her warmth and light.

“I’m not crying because of you.”

_ I’m crying because I told you to trust me, yet I can’t even tell you everything. _

“I’m crying because I have so many regrets, about things that I could have done differently. But not about you. Never about you.”   
  
Amity finally looks her in the eyes again, fire burning in that golden gaze, even if it's muted. She sees everything in those eyes. She sees a future.

“You shouldn't have picked me.”

The words are mumbled, almost ashamedly. 

Luz brings a hand to the archangel's chin, tilting it up ever so slightly, gently. 

“Amity Blight…” 

Perhaps unconsciously, Amity’s gaze flickers to her lips and then back to her eyes in a heartbeat. 

“... you are my fire.”

The archangel looks confused again, but Luz has never felt so much clarity in her life. It’s invigorating, and she almost wants to laugh.

“You.”

She presses a kiss to Amity’s forehead, causing her to stiffen slightly at the touch, before relaxing and letting herself surrender in Luz’s embrace.

“Are.”

A second kiss, this time on her cheek.

“My.”   
  
A third kiss, to the curve of the archangel’s jaw, to which she lets out a slight shudder. A soft noise escapes Amity as her lips linger there.

“Fire.”

The last kiss is on Amity’s lips, to which they both melt into. It’s less searing than the first time, less urgent and burning with fear and anxiety. This time is softer, and it’s better by far. Everything, actually, is so incredibly soft.

For all the walls the archangel likes to put up, Luz might have just realized that her new favorite activity is getting her to tear them down. 

“Mmmm.”

It’s like a purr in the back of her throat, the sound of contentment she makes. Unfortunately, Amity takes it as a sign to pull away.

Luz feels faint, and it doesn’t have anything to do with the lack of oxygen.

She hears a laugh bubble in Amity’s throat, and then she feels a half-hearted punch against her arm. 

“Heavens, when did you become such a  _ sap?” _

A grin spreads across her face.

“When I first laid eyes on the most beautiful archangel in all the Isles!”   
  
“Oh, shut up! You’re insufferable.”   
  
“But you love me.”   
  
Amity’s own smile fades slightly, some of the raw happiness that she so rarely gets to see disappearing off her face. 

“Yes, I do.”

Both of them are thinking about the same thing, just then.

_ I’m sorry. _

“Willow-”

“I know.”

“I have to talk to her now-”

“I know.”

“I don’t want to leave.”

“Luz, I know.”

They exchange small smiles, and Amity places a hand over her’s. Once more, she’s struck by how small they are, delicate but able to snap someone’s neck. The thought sends… not the right kind of emotions through her chest, making her feel hot.

“I’ll come back.”

The archangel’s eyes are gleaming.

“Go.”   
  


So, she does.

~~~

Willow is in the same spot, underneath their tree. 

If she banished her worries away, her nerves, then the sight of Willow beneath that oak tree would be a familiar and comforting one. 

Luz’s foot snaps a fallen branch, causing the angel to look up. She seems surprised to find her standing there, but Willow’s expression eventually falls into one of guilt.

“Luz.”

Her tone is flat, but not unwelcoming. 

Willow stands up, turning to face her and walks slowly forwards. She stops about five feet away, keeping plenty of space between the two of them, also feeling the tension there.

“Hi.”

“Hey.” 

It’s awkward, she won’t deny that. Two weeks isn’t that long, but it’s enough to drive a wedge between them. The raven haired angel rubs the back of her neck, avoiding eye contact, her gaze darting from one thing to another.

“I have to tell you something.”

“I know.”

Willow’s roving eyes lock onto hers, desperation painted all over her face.

“You know?”

“Yes.”

If possible, the tension thickens as her friend shifts into a defensive stance, arms crossed over her chest and expression withdrawn. Her next words come out flinty, designed to cut.

But, Luz doesn’t blame her.

“How does that make you feel?”

A sigh escapes her.

_ I wish this wasn’t so difficult. In a way, I feel more guilty about this than I do with Amity. Guilty, guilty, guilty. _

_ I wish I could live the rest of my life without this guilt.  _

“Willow… you are my very best friend. I’ll always need you, and want you around.”

“But?”

“But, Amity-”

The angel holds up a hand, cutting her off. To Luz’s surprise, she doesn’t seem angry or bitter at the admission.

“I know. You don’t need to tell me.”

  
  
She just looks sad.

_ I’m sorry that our lives aren’t easier. It would be easier to fall in love with you. _

In response, Luz holds her arms open. An invitation. Willow looks skeptical, but steps forward and clutches her tightly. The raven haired angel’s head comes to rest on her shoulder.

“You’re my water.”   


Willow doesn’t move away, but hums, and she can feel the vibration spread through her chest. It’s… comforting.

“You are my constant, an ever-flowing stream in my life. You keep me cool and level headed, and I need that. I love you, but it’s different from the way I love Amity. I need… my friend.” 

Willow pulls away and scoffs, but it's good natured. The action makes her heart warm a little.

_ There’s still hope. _

“That’s cheesy. You’re cheesy.”

She laughs, and it feels good to finally do so.

“Yeah I am, I’m a big ol’ cheese ball that found it in my big, cheesy heart to forgive you!”

The angel looks sheepish, but Luz wraps an arm around her again, rubbing her knuckles against Willow’s head. Her friend immediately starts squirming, trying in vain to escape her grasp.

“Luz, let me go!”

“Not until you say you won’t ghost me again!”

“I won’t ghost you, jeeze, now let me go!”

Their laughter fills the cold autumn’s air with joy, warmer than the weak sunlight that shines through the clouds. 

It’s not completely fixed, but it’s better.

They’re getting better. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Luz: kith me
> 
> Amity: bUt i MaKe yOu SaD
> 
> Luz: kithes
> 
> *later*
> 
> Willow: I want kithes too :(
> 
> Luz: have you met my pal *pulls the void out of her pocket* the friend zone?
> 
> Me: K.O.


	26. Birthday surprises

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “ ohmy g o d, this chapter.....the way luz and amity talked, it was so romantic and their kiss ????? woa...but.i have to admit that my heart aches for willow ...but also, the way luz said "you're my fire" to amity be hit so hard...bitch you can hear and feel the passion!!!!! theres a word in portuguese, boiolinha, that is used when u're feeling soft, but in a gay way, and thats how i feel rn. very boiolinha so thank u. im loving this story”
> 
> \- daisylover
> 
> This is??? So soft???? I am feeling very boiolinha over these two 😣
> 
> Mmm yes fluff, and we’ve finally returned to the plot (sort of). I’m thinking of wrapping up this fic at around 30 chapters? 
> 
> For this part at least..... 😈

**_Three months later_ **

~~~

**Luz’s POV**

A new letter sits innocently on her desk when she walks in.

The blissful smile on Luz’s face is wiped away as she spots it, letting out a resigned sigh.

_ What a lovely birthday surprise. _

It’s one of her less appreciated gifts today.

Pulling the new letter opener out that Gus had given her, she tears open the signature unmarked white envelope, grabbing Eda’s latest letter with a little huff of frustration. After the amazing day she just had, this puts a damper on her mood. 

You would think, that even after all these months, the guilt over her situation would fade slightly.

It doesn't. 

  
  


_ Hey, kiddo!  _

_ A little birdy told me that you were turning eighteen today, and let me just say, I offer my condolences. Adulthood is difficult. (No, I don’t know how Owlbert found out either, and I’m not going to ask.) _

_ In regards for your special day, I’m not going to give you any new assignments. Come on, I’m a con-woman, not a monster!  _

  
  


Over these past months, Luz has learned that Eda has a… strange… sense of humor. Despite herself, she lets out a little chuckle when she reads that. 

  
  


_ In fact, I’ll give you a little birthday gift of my own. Really, you are one of my more favorable pen pals, because at least your writing is legible. Most of my.... clients… can’t spell worth their salt, or swear at me every other word. It gets old real fast. _

_ Anyhow, you were asking if I knew any more half-breeds, and the answer is a resounding yes. See, half-breeds are rare, but us unsavory types tend to cluster together. Most half-breeds are human/demon offspring, and I know quite a few of those. They mostly stick to the outskirts of society, outcasts in both groups.  _

_ You’re the only angel/human half-breed that I know personally, but then again, it’s easier for them to blend in with the humans if they don’t have any noticeable angel traits. They certainly exist. _

_ However, and this one’ll really knock your socks, I happen to know an angel/demon half-breed. Very rare, and almost unheard of, but I wouldn’t say I’m lucky to know her. She’s a young woman about the same age as you, actually. Her mother was an archangel, even more unheard of, and her father was a demon. And by Hell below, that girl’s got a temper on her. _

_ I actually knew her mother, back on the Isles, and that’s how we first connected and became acquainted with each other. Though, I heard that she killed herself, after getting rid of her “demon spawn”, our resident messenger told us once. I don’t know if that’s true, but it might explain why the girl is so withdrawn. _

_ Sorry that it’s not a happier story, but like I’ve said before, you drew the long end of the stick when it comes to luck.  _

_ On that note, have a happy birthday, and I hope that your day isn’t too much of a disappointment! _

_ \- Eda (and King) _

  
  


Well, the woman really has a way with words. 

Luz folds the letter back up and tucks it into the stack with the rest of them, in one of her drawers. For some reason, she could never find the will to throw any of Eda’s letters away, so she hides them instead. 

Pushing herself up, Luz moves just to collapse on her bed, letting out a heavy sigh.

The fallen archangel’s story about her half-breed acquaintance depressed her more than she realized. It stung, knowing that there were those out in the world like her, but much less fortunate and worse off. 

_ I’m lucky to have a mother and friends that love me. _

Which leads her to think about Amity.

The two of them tried and failed to hide their relationship at first, Willow already partially knowing, who ended up telling Gus. Of course, her mother put two and two together and figured it out not long after, but she suspected that the two were dating beforehand anyhow.

Amity's sister, Emira, ended up finding out too, who in turn ended up telling their brother Edric, and then Viney. 

And by the heaven’s, did the older angel tease her about it.  _ Relentlessly.  _

She still remembers Viney’s texts with disturbing clarity.

_ “I knew you and Baby Blight would hook up eventually! Lemme just say, the tension between the two of you, absolutely unreal. Emira was laughing the whole time she told me, Amity being a lovely shade of tomato red while it was happening. I’m sure you’re  _ very  _ familiar with the color.” _

_ “And also, “You are my fire”? Really? Uhg, you two are so gross, and I’m saying that even with Em calling me ‘Puddles’ as a pet name. (don’t say I told you that, she will kill me.)” _

Luz shudders, banishing the conversation from her mind. 

Really, the only people who didn’t know about their relationship, or Viney and Emira’s for that matter, is Amity’s parents.

All parties involved want to keep it that way for as long as possible. From the very little that the archangel has told Luz about her parents, they’re very conservitive, and inflexible people. Always getting what they want.

And based on what she could get Amity to tell her, they want her to marry a rich, powerful archangel.

Anyhow, over the past three months, Luz’s little friend group has nearly doubled in size. She formally met the twins a couple months back, and took a liking to them, although they could be a bit much at times. Nothing like the tight, uppity archangels she expected them to be. A week after she met the twins, she introduced them to Willow and Gus, and all seven of them had their first proper get together.

Gus instantly started worshipping Ed and Em, since the three of them are all interested in illusion miracles, and the twins like using them to pull pranks. 

Willow was less keen on the Blights at first, but started warming up to them after a few weeks of all of them hanging out together. Still, she can tell that Willow’s favorite besides Gus and her is Viney, the two of them loving to tease Luz. 

Speaking of which, Amity and Willow have actually been… friendly towards each other lately. At first, it was  _ very  _ uncomfortable, the two of them avoiding each other like the plague. Over the months, with a little bit of meddling, they started to tolerate one another.

Still, things can get pretty competitive between them.

It’s not perfect, but it’s better than Luz could’ve ever hoped for. 

~~~ 

At around eight that night, she hears her scroll chime.

  
  


**Amity 8:07 pm:** I hope you’ve had a good day! :D 

  
  


**Luz 8:07 pm:** well, it just got better ;)

**Luz 8:07 pm:** and would you look at that, Archangel Blight used a smiley face, looks like im corrupting you after all

  
  


**Amity 8:08 pm:** I know seven different ways to snap your arm with only one hand.

  
  


**Luz 8:09:** im- im not gonna lie… that’s pretty hot

  
  


**Amity 8:09 pm:** … 

**Amity 8:09 pm:** I’m breaking up with you.

  
  


**Luz 8:10 pm:** :(

**Luz 8:10 pm:** on my birthday????

**Luz 8:10 pm:** love is a cruel mistress after all *sniffs*

  
  


**Amity 8:11 pm:** You’re insufferable.

  
  


**Luz 8:11 pm:** you keep saying that, but i don’t think you mean it

  
  


**Amity 8:11 pm:** No, I definitely do. 

**Amity 8:11 pm:** My heart just has decided to betray all rational thoughts that I’ve ever had.

  
  


**Luz 8:12 pm:** awww, is that your fancy way of saying that you love me? 

  
  


**Amity 8:12 pm:** … Yes.

  
  


**Luz 8:12 pm:** :D

  
  


**Amity 8:12 pm:** Also, I’m outside your front door.

  
  


**Luz 8:13 pm:** oh, now you tell me this??

**Amity 8:13 pm:** oH nOw YoU tElL mE ThIs

  
  


**Luz 8:13 pm:** *gasp*

**Luz 8:13 pm:** AMITY BLIGHT JUST USED TEXT SARCASM

**Luz 8:13 pm:** I AM CORRUPTING YOU!!!

  
  


**Amity 8:14 pm:** Just let me in your damn house.

  
  


Luz all but runs downstairs to open the door for the archangel. She looks exasperated, but there’s a fondness in those golden eyes as Luz drags her inside, pulling her into a kiss. After too short of a time, they pull apart, red in the face and goofy smiles on their lips.

“Hi.”

“Hi, dummy.”

She pretends to look wounded while Amity just rolls her eyes.

“I love these terms of endearment we give each other.”

“It’s my favorite part of this whole thing.”

Luz pouts.

“Not the kissing?”

“Oh, I retract my statement, it’s definitely the kissing”   
  


Somehow, they make it back to her room before Camila can come out to investigate. They end up on the bed, Amity with her head in Luz’s lap, golden eyes closed while she strokes the archangel’s hair. Little noises of contentment come from the back of her girlfriend’s throat as she does so, and Luz can barely contain the wide smile that aches to escape. 

Amity cracks an eye open, so she lets her smile shine through.

“So, how was your birthday?”

“Pretty great, I’d have to say. Though it got a little wild near the end there…”

The archangel lets out a laugh and shudders a bit.

“Yeah, I never,  _ ever  _ again want to see my sister giving mouth-to-mouth to Viney because she decided it would be a good idea to cram 67 mini marshmallows into her mouth.” 

They both cringe at the memory.

“Would you give me mouth-to-mouth if I was choking on marshmallows?”

“Absolutely not.”

Her tone is flat, and it makes Luz crack a grin that spreads to Amity’s face. She wiggles her eyebrows.

“What about now?”

“Mmmmm, I’m going to have to say no. You haven’t been on your best behavior today.”

She leans down to kiss Amity anyway, and the archangel doesn’t protest. 

Her heart feels warm, fire burning with each of their touches. She could do this for forever, for hours on end, if she didn’t have to breathe. Luz is gasping a bit when they finally pull apart, but it’s well,  _ well  _ worth it.

_ That never gets old. _

Luz has never felt happier in her life, she thinks. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Luz: so... I have a plan
> 
> Gus: ... 
> 
> Luz: it involves as many mini marshmallows as I can buy, and Amity
> 
> Gus: I’m going to stop you right there


	27. That's... a weird rock

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "THIS IS SO SOFT ILYY i love them i- cries"
> 
> \- h3lp_lol
> 
> so- soft..... also, writing the words "her girlfriend" give me so much serotonin..... I am but a simple lesbian

**Luz’s POV**

A couple of weeks later, she wakes up to find not just a new letter, but a small, discreetly wrapped package. Luz frowns, curious of the new addition to Eda’s usual mail.

She tears open the letter first, finding it completely normal and not out of the ordinary. Well, as normal as one of Eda’s letters can be.

  
  


_Salutations!_

_If you haven’t already opened it, I’m sure you’re wondering what my accompanying package is._

_It’s a little something that I’ve had for some years now, a trinket, a keepsake, knick knack, whatever you want to call it. Since I trust you now, (just a little), I’ve decided to entrust this great responsibility to you._

_See, this object has a great… sentimental value to me, and therefore I want you to do a favor for me. You’ve already been so helpful, so I just ask this one little thing of you. Can you take this and place it as close to the center of the Isles as you can, preferably near Belos’s castle?_

_I understand that this is an odd request, but this little trinket of mine feels like a piece of my soul, and just between you and I, I do miss the Isles a great deal. Despite everything that happened. It’d really stick it to that old archangel to put something of mine near him, just to taunt him._

_Anyhow, thank you for all that you’ve done, and I don’t have another assignment for you besides this._

_\- Eda (and King)_

  
  


Traces of Luz’s frown still remain as she sets down the letter and opens up Eda’s package.

The brown wrapping paper tears easily, revealing a little black box, similar to ones that would hold a necklace or other piece of jewelry. Slowly, slightly hesitant for some reason, she pulls the lid off the box.

Inside rests… a rock.

_Well, that was anticlimactic._

Upon further inspection, Luz finds that the rock has a bit more to it than first glance. She picks it up off of its foam padding, studying it in the light. 

The rock is rectangular in shape, tapering to a point at one end. It’s made of some dark mineral, not obsidian, slate, or anything she’s ever seen before. Luz weighs it in her palm, finding it much heavier than expected.

As she looks closer, she finds that there’s tiny runes carved all up and down the sides, minuscule in size. Whoever carved them must’ve had a microscope and a very steady hand. 

It feels… weird. Not quite ordinary. Something about the weight, the color, the runes, it all puts Luz off a bit. Then again, the fallen angel is quite strange.

She tosses it once, twice in the air before catching it in her palm again.

_Sentimental, huh?_

Something about this letter, and the rock, suddenly clicks in her brain.

Just like Eda, she feels the need to let go of something. Somehow, this letter feels like an ending. 

Luz no longer feels the need to know more about half-breeds, or demons, or one of the woman’s _many_ stories that she’s told the angel in her letters. She no longer feels the need for information to fill a gap in her soul, one she hadn't realized was there until it was gone. 

She’s happy, and she’s content. She no longer feels useless, or a burden on anyone.

These last few months, thanks to Amity, Luz has gotten much stronger, both physically and mentally. She’s fixed the growing divide between her and Willow because of the raven haired angel’s feelings, and met new friends. She’s learned more about her past, about her father, and in turn got much closer to her mother.

Just then, Luz decides that this next letter will be the last she ever sends to the fallen angel.

With a smile on her face and stone still clutched in her hand, she sits down and starts writing.

~~~

An hour later, Luz finds herself on a small island very close to Archangel Belos’s castle, hidden in a forest. She hasn’t stopped clutching the rock since she first picked it up, and it’s now worn grooves into her palm from the sharp edges. 

The castle peeks out from through the sparse trees, and the view is breathtaking. In the distance, she can see specks where angels come to and fro from the castle.

Although it’s a sight to behold, she never wants to set foot in the place. She’s heard enough about Belos from Eda to feel disgust just by knowing he’s somewhere behind those walls. Shaking her head, Luz looks around for a spot to place the stone.

There’s a small hollow, just at the base of a small ash tree, that looks perfect. Hidden from any roving eyes, or curious birds that might pick it up and carry it away. Carefully, she lays the stone to rest in its new home, blending in with the soil and roots and fallen leaves.

_Eda should be happy with that._

Feeling her mouth curve upwards in amusement, Luz turns away away from the rock, leaving without a second look back.

From its hollow, the runes carved along it glow a faint, dark red, humming with energy.

  
  
  


~~~

**Amity’s POV**

“Calamities above… why is this so frustrating?”

She’s hunched over a stack of reports, head in her hands, rubbing her temples. The amount of paperwork showing up at her door lately is astronomical, and worrying. Over the last month, angel scouts have been repeatedly reporting demon sightings closer and closer to the Isles. 

Of course, they’re up in the sky while the demons are on Earth below. Still, it’s… troubling. Almost like the demons are honing in on their approximate location, something that’s been a closely kept secret for several millennia. Even so, there hasn’t been this much demonic activity since over seventy years ago, since the World Wars, as the humans call them.

Amity shouldn’t be as worried as she is. Realistically, even if the demons did find the Angel’s Isles, they’d have no way up. Some of them have wings, yes, but the Gates are heavily enchanted to keep out any unwanted presence.

_What about…_

She banishes the idea from her mind. Teleportation miracles are incredibly difficult to master, and none are strong enough to travel such a far distance.

Besides, demon magic is unreliable at best. Most of them have very limited abilities, allowing for only basic distraction and camouflaging spells. Some of them have the capability for more… sinister magic, but those demons are few and far between. Their very nature relies on trickery and deceit, and in turn their magical abilities reflect that. 

_They might be able to manage it using a waypoint, but there would still have to be one demon on the Isles to place the second waypoint._

_It’s implausible, not to mention that teleportation magic has been all but lost._

When her scroll rings, Amity tosses down the stack of papers clutched in her fist, picking it up without checking the contact.

Luz’s voice sounds on the other end, and her mood instantly improves.

“What’s going on, Ami?”

“Oh thank the heavens, please rescue me from this torture.”

She hears her girlfriend laugh, the sound lifting her spirits. Amity feels a smile creep over her lips.

“More paperwork?”

“You would not _believe_ the amount that came in today. I thought my job was supposed to be glorious, rescuing humans from the clutches of evil, not reviewing _every single_ demon sighting that’s been reported.”

“I’d love to help, but I’m still enjoying my paid leave due to ‘emotional damages’, as you put it once.”

  
  
“Well, you’d be abysmal at this anyway, but thanks for the offer.”

Luz laughs again, and then it’s quiet over the line.

“You could come over if you want, to de-stress.”

Amity feels her face flush, eternally grateful that the angel isn’t standing in front of her.

“Luz, you do know what that’s code for, right? It seems a bit early in our relationship to be doing _that.”_

She hears the other end go silent, then Luz erupts into a laughter that’s contagious, and Amity finds herself giggling like a fourteen year old. It’s embarrassing, really. 

“My mother _certainly_ doesn’t think so.”

Camila Noceda has been a bit… over supportive of their relationship, that’s for sure. She feels herself go red again.

“Anyhow, I’m coming over now, you terror.”

“Love you too babe.”

Her smile stretches into a full blown grin as she hangs up.

_I love you too, Luz._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eda: sends a plot device
> 
> Luz: cool I guess
> 
> (ignore the fact that completely forgot a chapter title and an end note because i was so preoccupied with starting the next chapter)


	28. There's always something under the water, waiting to drag you down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title credits go to AtticusKaine, one of the very lovely people on the uwu house discord server

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "*looks left, looks right*
> 
> *nods*
> 
> angst ahead"
> 
> \- hyacinth (Lexa_Alycia)
> 
> Oh... it hurts....

**Amity’s POV**

For some reason, she’s uncharacteristically nervous as she steps up to the Noceda household. Luz and her were just joking around earlier, but what if the angel was being partially serious? Amity doesn’t think that she’s ready to take that next step in their relationship, but what if Luz is? 

The angel has always been the more affectionate one, the more romantical and less cynical one. Amity, on the other hand, is still learning to let go around her.

_ What if I’m never ready, and I end up pushing her away? _

She banishes those fears from her mind.

_ Luz isn’t like that, and I’m sure that she’ll wait for me. _

Taking a deep breath, she knocks on their door. Only seconds later, the older angel opens the door, smiling down at her.

“Amity! What a welcome surprise! Luz is upstairs, by the way.”

“Thank you, Camila.”

She only uses the older angel’s first name at the woman’s insistence, even though it’s highly informal and goes against all of her mannerisms training. Although, this whole thing is highly informal. 

Still feeling her heart on edge, Amity ascends the stairs and rounds the corner to Luz’s room. 

All of her worries fade into the distance when the angel beams that sunshine bright smile, lighting up the room and her heart. She feels her eyes crinkle in the corners as she smiles back, stepping into Luz’s open arms.

Amity didn’t use to have smile lines around her eyes, but how could she not when the angel makes her so happy nowadays?

“Hey there, corazón.”

_ Heart.  _

She won’t ever admit it to Luz, but when the angel first started using Spanish around her, she looked up every word that was said.

The word warms her heart, so Amity smiles into Luz’s shoulder. She pulls back after a bit and her girlfriend raises an eyebrow.

“Feeling better now that you’re away from all that paperwork?”

“Much.” 

“Good.”

Luz sits down on the bed and pats the space next to her. She obliges, sinking into the mattress. Suddenly, her nerves are back. 

“So…” 

The angel’s tone is halfway between teasing and serious, a little smile still lingering at the corner of her mouth.

“So what?”

“You look like something’s eating at you.”

_ And you are getting entirely too good at reading me, Luz Noceda. _

Amity sighs, letting herself lean back against the pillows. It’s already late, the sun sinking behind the horizon, and she’s tired from the long day of work. This house has always had a way of relaxing her, even after the amount of stress today.

“It’s stupid.”

“I can guarantee you, it’s probably not stupid.”

_ No, but my worries are stupid. I should be able to trust you with this. _

“Well, it’s about… being, er… intimate. With you.”

_ Ok then, out in the open it is. _

Her face feels hotter than the sun, and she’s sure that it’s a marvelous shade of red while Luz’s mouth gapes open. Amity wants to take back her words as the silence wears on, or crawl into a small hole to die. One of the two. 

The angel rubs the back of her neck, avoiding her eyes, but Amity can see the pink on her cheeks.

“Oh, gosh, I mean… I haven’t really thought about that.”

Luz coughs into her fist.

“Are you- are you saying this because you want to…?”

If possible, her face manages to go redder.

“No, no! It’s actually the opposite issue, really.”

_ Come on, spit it out, you’ve gotten this far. _

“I’m not sure I’m ready for that. I don’t think… that I’ll be ready for that for awhile.”

The room goes quiet, aside from the pounding of her heart. Cool spring air flows in through the open window, fluttering Amity’s hair, and she takes a deep breath.

Luz has an indecipherable expression on her face, eyebrows furrowed slightly.

“I’m not the best with my emotions, with my feelings still, but I’m getting there. Learning to… trust again. And if you’re ready for _that,_ I don’t want to feel like I’m holding you back, or that we’re going too slow.”

The angel finally turns towards Amity, chocolate eyes tender. The look melts her heart.

“Amity…”

“I know, it’s stupid.”

Luz shakes her head immediately. 

“No, it’s not stupid. Your feelings are  _ not  _ stupid.”

The way she says it, with a ferocity edging her voice, makes her feel warm. Loved. Cared for. Heard.

“You could  _ never  _ hold me back. Besides, I’m not ready for that either. And… even if I was, and you weren’t, I would wait until the end of time for you. I don’t want to rush into anything, and I don’t want you to feel like you need to rush into anything.”

Luz’s gaze holds her fast, fire in her eyes.

“Got it?”

Amity nods, numb. 

It’s still for a moment, and a yawn rips through her.

“Oh, jeeze, you must be exhausted.”

Despite the heavy moment, she finds herself smiling, still a little overwhelmed at the care in Luz’s voice. It’s something she’s completely unused to.

“Just a bit.”

“Here-” 

The angel stands up, and so does Amity, pulling back the covers and removing extra pillows off the bed.

“You can sleep here tonight.”

“Luz, I shouldn’t…” 

_ But her mattress looks so soft. _

“You’ve heard the rules when you were a kid, no flying when it’s dark outside.”

Amity laughs, and her girlfriend cracks a grin.

“We’re both adults.”

The angel wags a finger at her.

“No buts. Go to sleep. I’m going to go brush my teeth now.”

With that, she steps out of the room. Amity shakes her head ruefully, kicking off her shoes and sliding under the covers, deciding not to argue any more. 

_ Oh, I was right. Her bed is really soft… _

Almost instantaneously, her eyes slide shut, heavy with exhaustion. The covers are warm, the breeze coming through the window is cool, and she feels herself sinking into sleep. Amity barely hears Luz come in, but before she knows it, the angel slides in next to her, wrapping a warm arm around her waist.

She tenses involuntarily, and she’s sure that Luz can feel it.

“Is this okay?”

Her voice is barely audible, but Amity relaxes at the sound of it, curling up closer to her.

“Perfect.”

~~~

Morning sunlight fills the room and hits her eyelids, but Amity really wakes up to the sound of soft hooting. Squinting against the light, she raises her head and looks towards the window, where a miniature owl is perched.

_ What…? _

She can hear the shower running faintly in the distance, and notices the lack of a body next to her. Luz must’ve already gotten up.

Throwing the covers off, she blinks a couple of times, but the owl is still there, staring at her with an almost quizzical expression. It doesn’t fly away when she approaches, instead holds out its leg. For the first time, she notices the letter tied to it.

_ Is this some sort of joke? _

Still sleep delirious, Amity unties the twine that holds the letter from the owl’s leg. She studies the plain white envelope, but it gives away nothing as to where it came from. The owl gives her a sort of affectionate nip on the hand flies away.

Confused, she tears it open anyway.

  
  


_ Ahoy there!  _

_ (I’ve been trying out some new human greetings, and I’m growing fond of that one.) _

_ I must say, I’m sad to hear that you’ve decided to cut off correspondence, but I’m not surprised. Something tells me that this has been a long time coming. Whatever the case is, I’ll miss the letters. _

_ It’s alright though, and again, I’m thankful for all your help. The information that you’ve provided me is invaluable, and I hope you’ve learned something in return. You’ve helped my plan to make the Isles a better place succeed. You’ll see.  _

_ Your timing is pretty good anyhow, that was the last assignment I needed from you.  _

_ So thank you, Angel Noceda, for being in my life. Even if it was just for a little while. (Still a bit perturbed that you never told me your first name, for all of the letters we’ve sent back and forth.) _

_ \- Eda (and King) _

  
  


The letter falls from her fingers when she reads those two names.

Amity’s wide awake now, brain struggling to process the information in front of her.

_ All the demon sightings, the rise in activity, they way they keep getting closer and closer… It’s all because of…  _

_ Luz. _

She feels something inside of her break.

~~~

**Luz’s POV**

She rounds the corner, rubbing her hair with a towel as she hums a soft melody. By the time Luz steps back into her room, she sees Amity hunched over her desk, staring at something with a vacant expression on her face. 

The archangel doesn’t look up when she walks in, so Luz pads quietly towards her and presses a kiss to the top of her head. 

Suddenly, like a puppet with its strings being jerked, Amity springs out of the chair. There’s something clutched in her hand, knuckles white around it, and for the first time she notices the little scars there. When Amity finally looks at her, there’s white hot fury in those golden eyes.

“Would you care-”

She unfurls the paper clutched in her fist, and Luz instantly recognizes the spiky handwriting. Her heart sinks to her stomach.

“- to tell me what this is?”

Amity’s voice is even, but there’s a very dangerous edge to it. A sharpened knife, ready to cut her to pieces.

“Amity…” 

For the first time ever, the archangel looks at her with disgust, as if she’s nothing more than a discarded piece of trash.

“I  _ trusted  _ you. I let myself be free around you. I gave my soul to you. I  _ loved  _ you. And all this time, you’ve been sending information to your  _ kidnappers?” _

Luz’s limbs feel like they’ve been injected with lead, and she wants to say something  _ so bad,  _ but she can’t even open her mouth. She watches Amity’s fury only rise in intensity, waves of heat seeming to radiate off of the archangel.

_ Burning. I’m being burnt to nothing but ashes. _

“And you want to lecture  _ me  _ about  _ trust! _ How so very  _ hypocritical _ of you, to tell me to trust you, when all you do apparently is lie and go behind my back!”

She feels nauseous, emotions rolling in her stomach. Luz tastes acid in the back of her throat.

“HOW MANY MONTHS HAVE YOU BEEN LYING TO ME, LUZ? THREE? FOUR?”

Amity’s voice is beginning to fracture, something raw and not for her to see seeping through the cracks. Angry tears are welling up in her eyes, and Luz doesn’t realize that she’s also crying until she feels something wet hit her bare foot.

_ This isn’t… This is…  _

She thinks that she’s going to be sick.

“Amity, please… this wasn’t how…”

The archangel grits her teeth, and she can see fangs, sharp and deadly, bared like they want to rip her apart.

“Wasn’t how what? Wasn’t how you wanted this to go? Did you intend to lie to me forever? All those times you asked me about the Isles, were you just using me?”

Finally, the archangel’s voice breaks in two, unshed tears and raw pain shining through.

“Do you even  _ love me?” _

Finally, Luz finds herself able to speak.

“Of course I love you! I  _ never _ wanted to use you for information, I didn't want you getting involved, but…” 

Amity scoffs.

“I was just convenient.”

Her voice is bitter, and Luz feels all the things she wants to say die again on her tongue.

The archangel looks her in the eyes, and all she can see is betrayal.

“You’ve fallen, Luz. You’re fallen.”

Amity sighs, and there’s a resignation on her face that scares Luz. 

“I may love you,  _ I might have loved you,  _ but my duty is to my kind. As yours should be.”

She walks past her, not bothering to spare Luz a second glance, golden eyes even colder than the day she first saw them. It feels like… it feels like the fire has consumed itself, leaving nothing but ash and a chill in her heart.

“If you try to contact me again, I will turn you into the council.”

Amity slams the door behind her, and then there’s nothing but silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beginning of the chapter: awwww
> 
> End of the chapter: D:


	29. Happiness slips from our grasp so easily, doesn't it? (Part one)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TW: Blood
> 
> it's not a huge thing, but if that makes you uncomfortable, read carefully

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "ワハハハハハハハハハハハハハハハハハハハハ щ(º৻oщ) （←Luz)"
> 
> \- Lekopoofball
> 
> I know that my humor is fucking broken because I laughed at this for about ten minutes. Also the vibes in that emoticon are immaculate, so thank you.
> 
> I'm just gonna... gonna post this alright... don't hurt me....

**Luz’s POV**

The first day afterwards was kind of a numb agony.

It’s the aftershocks that keep hitting her, the implications of their fight smacking her over and over again, like unrelenting waves.

In her numbness, unable to sort her thoughts out, she remembers a story that practically every young angel is told. 

The tale of Icarus and the sun.

Curled up in her bed, unable to face the world or even her own mother, Luz replays cold nights curled up on the couch when Camila told her the story. 

Icarus was a young boy, trapped with his father Daedalus by the cruel King Minos in the king’s palace. Daedalus was an inventor, and Minos imprisoned him so he could exploit the man’s creations. In secret, Daedalus created a pair of bronze wings for him and his son, so that they might eventually escape the king’s clutches. The wings were held together with wax seals, and they were one of Daedalus’s most prized inventions.

One night, the inventor finished his wings and called to his son Icarus so that they would finally escape from the palace. He fastened the wax seals, warning Icarus not to fly too high, lest the sun melt the seals; nor too low, or the salt water would destroy the wax.

They set off, escaping after years of imprisonment and harsh treatment.

Dawn soon rose, and Icarus was so overjoyed at his newfound freedom that he circled higher and higher. Again, Daedalus reminded him not to fly too close to the sun. The boy brushed him off.

“I know father, I just want to feel the sun on my face and the wind in my hair!”

After a couple more hours, the inventor saw one of Icarus’s feathers fall from the sky, landing in the waves below. For the last time, he called out to the boy to fly lower.

“It’s fine! I trust your invention wholeheartedly!”

Daedalus watched with a sense of dread as more feathers wiggled loose, first two, then four, and then he noticed his son was losing altitude. Suddenly, one of the wings ripped off of Icarus’s body, and he fell, a look of terror on his face. The inventor saw him tumble into the dark surf below, unable to do anything to save his beloved and only son.

As Luz grew older, she realized that the whole story was a metaphor for her own life, unable to fly close to the sun. The sun being, in this case, where the archangels were. In a way, an archangel’s wrath if she broke this simple rule would be much worse than the sun’s.

_ But I broke the rules. _

_ I flew too close to the sun, and now they might take my wings. _

_ I kissed the sun, and now I’ll pay the price. _

~~~

The second and third days were much, much worse. 

Her numbness had burned away, replaced with this sort of simmering self hatred.

Luz had grabbed all of Eda’s letters from their hiding spot, summoning red hot fire from her fingertips and burned every last one of them. They all crumbled to black ash, words previously written there erased permanently by the flames. Then, she took the coin the woman had given her, and clutching it in one hand, stormed out of the house.

At the edge of their island, Luz chucks it over the side and watches it fall into the void, fury bubbling in her gut.

She goes back inside, and yells curses at the walls until her voice grows hoarse and scratchy. 

Even though her mother is home, Camila doesn’t interrupt her temper tantrum. 

She eventually collapses, racked with sobs, tears burning in her throat.

~~~

On the fourth day, Luz wakes to find another letter sitting innocently on her desk. 

Feeling her vision blur and turn red, she tosses the covers off of her, grabbing the paper and ripping it in two without a second thought. She kicks the pieces with her foot, scowling when they don’t fly across the room like she wanted to.

The walls feel like they’re closing around her. Luz is well aware of the many texts from her friends, begging to be read, to at least be seen to let someone know that she’s okay. Unable to stand her room any longer, she slings her jacket on and walks out of the room, leaving her scroll on the desk.

She doesn’t see the big URGENT written in red marker on the letter, and as the torn pieces settle into a corner, Eda’s final warning is lost.

~~~

Under the shade of her oak tree, a few hours later, Luz sees the smoke. 

She sits bolt upright, thrown out of her thoughts by the sight. The park is nearly empty, and those few angels around her seem to not notice anything out of the unusual. 

_ Where is all that smoke coming from? _

_ Is something burning? _

Pushing herself up, she scans the sky. Nothing. If there’s something on fire, then she can’t see the source of it.

Luz begins to settle back against the tree, sure that people more qualified than her will take care of it. Fires aren’t that common, but they aren’t  _ unheard of.  _

Then, the screaming starts. 

It’s a high pitched wailing, filled with nothing but raw distraught and pain. It sounds like if fear was a sound. It sounds like… death.

She stumbles up and away from the other angels nearby also looking around for the source of the screaming, all with wide eyes. Instinctually, Luz reaches into her pocket for her scroll, but her hand meets nothing save for empty space.

_ I don’t have my scroll. _

_ Shit! _

_ Why didn’t I bring my scroll!? _

Breathing in as deeply and as slowly as she can, Luz tries to assess the situation. 

_ It could just be a bad accident. _

_ Or… it could be something much worse.  _

All around her, angels are flying up into the air, trying to get a better vantage point. There’s pointing fingers, gasps and shouts from above her that are laced with panic, From their reactions, from the blind fear that she can just barely make out, they’re facing worse than a simple fire.

_ I need to find Mami. _

Before she can spread her wings and fly away, away from the ear piercing shrieks, two forms tumble out of the sky and fall through the trees. They crash into a grass clearing not even twenty feet away from Luz, tumbling over one another. As they stop rolling, she can see that there’s something immediately wrong with the scene.

One of the figures is an angel in her early thirties, dressed in work clothes. The figure over her is…  _ not  _ an angel.

Had she been further away, she might have mistaken the demon for a regular angel. It has pitch black wings, but from this distance, they seem to dissolve and reform into shadowy feathers each time the demon moves them. When it looks up, Luz’s heart skips a beat, fear pounding in her veins. 

The demon has horns that curl into sharp points, greyed out skin, but what really makes her heart rate kick up a couple notches is the  _ eyes.  _ Red irises like rings of magma, but the rest of its eyes are an ink black. There’s something completely sinister there, not a shred of compassion present. 

When Luz sees a silver knife slide out of the angel’s back, she has to stifle a scream behind her hands. The demon looks up, knife clutched in its fist, and grins a humorless smile at her.

“Better run, little angel, before my blade finds its new home in your heart.”

They point the knife at her, and she watches a drop of blood fall off the tip, staining the earth below. The red on the knife and on the demon’s hands, is suddenly all she can see.

Before fear can completely root her to the ground, Luz spreads her wings and beats them one, twice, taking off into the sky. Horror shakes her to the core, and a tear slides down her cheek.

_ I’m sorry…  _

~~~

Back at the house, Luz’s hands shake as she opens the door, not having bothered to lock it before she left. She calls into the living room, voice wavering.

“Mami?”

No one answers.

Hands still trembling, she grabs her sword, which rests comfortably in her grip. The familiar weight in Luz’s palm calms her a slight bit. 

She slowly makes her way up the stairs, raising the sword as she does so, rounding the corner to her room.

Somehow, she’s not surprised to see Eda and King standing there, facing out the window. All of her shock has been converted to adrenaline by now. Luz points her sword at the two, and they turn at the sound of her footsteps.

“Get out of my house.”

Luz’s voice sounds even and cold, not at all like herself. She sounds like…  _ Amity. _

The thought makes her chest ache, but she keeps her face neutral. Eda holds up her hands, a pleading look on her face. King looks the same as before, but the fallen angel now has a pair of shadow wings, same as the other demon’s. The sight doesn’t ease her nerves at all.

“Angel Noceda, you need to leave right now.”

“I don’t think you understood me. Get. Out. Of. My. House.”

Eda scowls, running a hand through her mane of red hair.

“No, I don’t think you understood  _ me.  _ You need to leave the Isles before it’s completely overrun by demons.”

She only lifts the sword higher. 

“Oh, and this wasn’t your plan all along?”

The fallen angel drops her hands, an exasperated expression on her face. 

“No! And for hell’s sake, put the sword down, I’m not going to hurt you. However, there are other demons that  _ will,  _ and if you stay here much longer, you are going to die.”

Her tone is flat, and Luz doesn’t detect any unruth in it. She wills herself not to shake, not to show even a sliver of fear in front of the woman. Eda meets her gaze, completely serious. 

“Why do you care if I die or not?”

The woman sighs.

“I want to do something right, once in my life.”

There’s a pause.

“Now come on, we have to leave before the skies become flooded with demons.”

Luz finally lowers her sword and crosses her arms. 

“I’m not going anywhere with you, certainly not without my mother or my friends.”

King groans, and both of them turn to look at him. He stares out the window, watching fights break out in the distance.

“I told you the girl wouldn’t listen to you, so why are we wasting time here?”

Eda smacks him on the shoulder, and the demon rubs his arm in protest. He shoots a dirty look towards the fallen angel, but she ignores it and turns back to Luz.

“Trust me, kid, you want us by your side if you have any hope of getting out of here in one piece.”

_ The sad thing is, she’s probably right. _

_ As much as it pains me to think, this isn’t a normal situation. This is life and death, and if they’re willing to help, then I should take it.  _

_ Even if they’re the root of the problem. _

_ Even though… I lost  _ her _ because of them. _

Luz shoots the pair a warning glare, putting daggers in her eyes.

“Fine, stay here if you want, but I need to get a hold of my mother. If either of you move a muscle, then I’m going to turn you into shish kebabs.”

Eda plops down on her bed, hands raised again in surrender.

She grits her teeth, and grabs her scroll off the desk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm too depressed to leave something funny here, so try to make one up in the comments 👀


	30. Happiness slips from our grasp so easily, doesn't it? (Part two)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Life and love are not two; they are inseparable like a word and its meaning. We take birth in love, lead this life in love and at last get merged in love. The truth is: there is no end for love. Only through love can life spring and flower. As love is our innate nature, there cannot be a manifestation of any kind without this power behind it."
> 
> \- Amma

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "well that was a depressing chapter. Don’t know how eda didn’t expect that. Anyways, something funny! Two cowboys are starving in the desert. They are on the verge of death, when suddenly they see a bacon tree! They run up to it thinking they’re saved, but are immediately shot down. It wasn’t a bacon tree, it was a ham bush :D"
> 
> \- YMIhere
> 
> heh... ham bush... 
> 
> FUCK
> 
> hey, remember chapter 24? wasn't that such a great chapter??? don't you wish that you could go back to that sweet, sweet fluff???
> 
> ALSO.... TW: blood, mutilation
> 
> I'll leave a chapter summary at the end, for those who are uncomfortable with that.

**Mami 4:24 pm:** Luz, if you’re not home, go home. Stay there. There’s been an invasion at the clinic, and I’m coming back right away. 

**Mami 4:25 pm:** Te quiero, mija.

  
  


Luz breathes a sigh of relief when she reads her mother’s messages. They were sent not even ten minutes ago, so she should be back relatively soon. 

Edging a look out of the corner of her eye, she finds King still standing by the window, hands tucked into the pockets of his coat. The demon has an unreadable expression on his face, but the corners of his mouth are downturned in displeasure. Eda has kicked her boots off, now twiddling her thumbs.

Swallowing a lump in her throat, she opens up their group chat, which is surprisingly devoid of texts, at least from today. Old ones still beg to be read, but Luz doesn’t have the time. 

Moving her fingers furiously, she sends out a hasty message.

  
  


**Luz 4:32 pm:** everyone meet me at my house asap. if you havent noticed by now, we have a big situation. stay safe and hurry.

  
  


She sees several text bubbles pop up almost instantaneously.

  
  


**Willow 4:32 pm:** I’ll be there in less than ten minutes

  
  


**Gus 4:32 pm:** same, me and willow were at the library together

  
  


**Viney 4:33 pm:** im further out, itll take me a little longer

  
  


**Edric 4:35 pm:** Em and I are looking for Amity, it might be awhile. We’ll come find you guys afterwards.

  
  


_Amity’s missing?_

  
  


**Luz 4:35 pm:** did you look in the training center?

  
  


**Edric 4:35 pm:** Headed there now.

  
  


Satisfied, at least for the moment, Luz sets her scroll back down.

The fallen angel raises an eyebrow at her.

“Want to play I Spy?”

She makes a disgusted noise in the back of her throat, before letting out a heavy sigh. The situation, the two of them just a few feet away from her, it all makes her nerves feel like they’ve been hooked up to powerlines. She refuses to look at Eda, or King.

The uncomfortable silence only lasts a couple more minutes, broken by the sound of the front door slamming.

“Luz?!”

“I’m upstairs!”

Luz hears her mother running up the stairs, and only a few seconds later, Camila bursts through the door and has her wrapped in a tight hug.

“Oh, cariño, you’re _okay.”_

She feels the older angel sniffle against her shoulder.

“I was _so worried.”_

As Camila pulls back, she registers the other two people in the room for the first time. Luz watches surprise flare on her face, quickly replaced by fear and anger. Her mother pushes Luz behind her, pulling a small knife from her belt and brandishing it in front of her.

“Mija, why are there demons in my house?”

She pushes Camila’s arm down, and the older angel looks at her with shock. Meanwhile, both Eda and King have their hands raised, appearing more intimidated by this little woman with a knife than they were by Luz and her sword.

Had this been any other day, she would’ve been almost insulted.

“It’s okay. They’re here to help.”

Luz narrows her eyes at the two. The fallen angel only nods.

“We only mean the best of intentions, right, _King?”_

Eda elbows him in the side, and he grunts in response.

“Yeah, sure.”

Camila doesn’t look so convinced, but she doesn’t have time to question the pair before Luz hears the front door creak open again. She tenses for a moment, only relaxing when she hears a familiar voice.

“Luz? Ms. Noceda? It’s Willow and Gus.”

“We’re upstairs!”

Seconds later, two familiar faces appear at her doorway, and Luz feels some of the long pent up tension drain from her body. She hasn’t seen any of her friends since the _fight,_ for lack of a better word, and she didn’t know how much she missed their company until now.

Willow and Gus don’t immediately rush in, spotting Eda and King. Gus reaches for a dagger strapped to his thigh, and Willow grabs a seed packet from a pouch hanging across her shoulder. The raven haired angel has always been much better at casting plant miracles than hand-to-hand combat.

Luz holds up her hands to stop her friends, who look at her with confusion. Gus waves his dagger between the fallen angel and demon.

“Er, you may not have noticed, but some of the same guys who’ve been trying to kill us on the way here are standing mere feet away from you.”

She sighs again.

“They’re on our side, I’ll explain later.”

For once, the pair looks a bit uncomfortable. Probably because they’re outnumbered for the first time since they stepped foot in this house.

_Good. Let them sweat._

_Heaven knows they deserve it._

Luz sinks down at her desk, and her friends lean against the wall. It’s… tense. She essentially ignored them for four days, wallowing in her own self pity. The air in the room is thick, and her mouth tastes bitter. No one says a thing.

It’s about seven more minutes of uncomfortable silence before the front door slams open once more. Camila winces at the noise, and a strong, loud voice carries up the stairs.

“Squirt? Ya here?”

“Upstairs!”

Once more, footsteps pound up the stairs until Viney appears in the doorway. Noticing the fallen angel and demon immediately, she pulls out her hammers and charges towards them with war cry. Everyone leaps up, Gus and Willow having to physically restrain the angel. Viney spits curses at the two of them, and at Eda and King.

“Let me go! Those are the bastards who kidnapped you, Luz, aren’t they?!”

The room explodes into noise.

“Kidnapped you, mija?”

“Those are the same demons?”

“Why didn’t you tell me this?”

“Will everyone please _shut up for a second?!”_

Surprisingly, it quiets down, save for Viney still struggling to break free.

Luz rubs her temples.

“Yes, they did kidnap me-”

She holds her hand up when her mother tries to interrupt.

“- but it’s water under the bridge. They want to help us escape the Isles, for _some reason,_ and I think they’re the best chance we have.”

Before anyone else can say a word, two people burst into the room, one collapsing to the floor. It takes her a second to recognize the Blight twins, all emerald green hair and creamy white wings. Edric holds a semi-conscious Emira, who has a dazed look in her golden eyes and a nasty looking cut across her forehead. 

They must’ve not heard the twins come in due to all of the shouting.

Viney immediately stops trying to attack Eda and King, wiggling out of Gus’s grasp. The older angel rushes to Emira’s side, kneeling next to the archangel. She looks at Edric, fury in her eyes. 

_“What happened to her?”_

He swallows nervously, Adam's apple bobbing up and down.

“We were ambushed outside of the training center by a horde of demons. We managed to fight them off, but Em was hit before we could escape.”

Viney nods, pressing her fingertips to Emira’s forehead, casting a miracle under her breath.

“There were other angels around, but when the demons saw us, they abandoned everyone else. I think… that they’re targeting archangels. And, we couldn’t find Amity anywhere. She’s not at her flat either.”

Edric looks at her when he says that, but his attention is diverted towards Eda’s smokey wings. The archangel frowns.

“Demons?”

They all answer at the same time, except Viney, who’s still casting a healing miracle.

“Long story.”

Apparently satisfied, Edric nods, but seems a bit more on edge as he glances back to his sister. They all watch as Viney’s fingertips emit a faint glow, and the cut on Emira’s head stitches back together. The archangel opens her eyes, fixing Viney with a goofy smile.

“Pretty angel came to my rescue, eh?”

She laughs, and if by magic, the tension in the room feels as if it was cut in half.

Luz watches the interaction, Emira now holding Viney’s hand against her cheek, eyes closed in contentment. The sight makes her chest ache, the fresh pain of loss stinging again in her throat.

_I miss Amity._

_… Amity!_

She pushes to her feet, and everyone’s eyes are on her.

“We need to find Amity.”

The fallen angel pipes in.

“And then get the hell out of here, alive preferably.” 

Disbelieving looks are shot her way, and Luz whispers out of the corner of her mouth.

“Not helping, Eda.”

“Right.”

_If she’s not at the training center, and she’s not home, and she’s not answering her scroll… then…?_

_Come on, think!_

Eda chimes in again, hesitantly now.

“Listen, if we don’t get moving soon, you won’t be able to fly ten feet without running into a demon.”

Luz crosses her arms, defiant.

“We’re not leaving until we find Amity.”

Murmurs of agreement echo around the room. 

King sighs, silent until now.

“We waste more time arguing. You, archangel-”

He points a clawed finger at Emira.

“Can you still fight?”

Reluctantly, she shakes her head.

“Then, go with Eda, and she’ll take you back to the Owl House and come back for the rest of us.”

Instantly, Viney starts shaking her head.

“I’m not leaving Em.”

Her mother pipes in.

“If the two of you are going, I should go as well. I’m a healer, and these days, I’m afraid that I’m not much use in a fight. Emira could need extra care.”

Edric sighs.

“I’d like to go too, but I need to look for my little sister. Viney-”

He rests a hand on the angel’s shoulder. She starts, looking into his eyes. Something passes between them, something tangible and heavy.

“Take care of her.”

She nods firmly.

“I will.”

King speaks up once more, drawing everyone’s attention back to him.

“So it's decided. Archangel girl, scary one, and mom go with Eda; the rest of you come with me to search for archangel number three.”

He rubs the back of his neck.

“Sorry, I’m bad with names.”

~~~

Luz has a sickening feeling in her gut that knows exactly where Amity’ll be. They circle the skies, searching for any sign of white wings and mint green hair, staying far away from any demons. Below them, Luz spots several fights in session, mid air tussles or on one of the islands.

She wants to help all of them, but a constant thrum of _Amity, Amity, Amity,_ in the back of her mind keeps her going.

Flying back towards Willow, Gus and her, Edric and King shake their heads in defeat.

“She’s not among the Upper Isles.”

_She wouldn’t be… Amity would be at the center of it all, fighting until her last breath._

_That’s what I’m scared of._

Luz clenches her jaw, trying to block out her worries, and shakes her head.

“We need to go towards Belos’s castle”

The group looks at her with disbelief. Willow rests a hand on her shoulder delicately, looking at Luz with concern.

“That’s where the thick of the fighting is, Luz.”

“I know, and that’s why she’ll be there.”

Edric scoffs, something like pain and admiration mixing around in his eyes. They are such a similar golden shade to Amity’s, that it makes her heart pang all over again. He grins a bitter smile.

“Well, that does sound like her. Always going the extra mile.”

Faces set like stone, the group starts off towards the middle of the Isles. Luz’s heart is beating out of her chest, but it’s not because of the brutal flying pace that they’ve set. If anything, she pushes her wings harder, flapping them faster, just to block out the thoughts that threaten to send her spiraling. 

_If we’re too late…_

_Don’t think like that! Focus!_

As they approach their destination, she sees more flames, fire and smoke licking up to the sky. Below, just little specs in the distance, angels and demons fight in small groups below. The fighting and fire only intensifies as they dive down, Belos’s castle in view now. 

If it was bad from up above, nothing could compare to being on the same level as the chaos. There’s screaming, yelling, noise from the clashing of metal on claws and teeth. Demons, besides those with natural wings, fly around with their new shadow wings, dive-bombing angels out of the sky.

They attack with a terrifying type of ferocity… like they don’t care whether or not they live or die.

What Edric said seems to be true as well. While angels are certainly having to defend themselves, the few archangels are getting pummeled from every side, relentlessly. 

“Split up!”

“What? That’s a stupid idea!”

“I know, but we’ll find Amity faster that way! I want to get out of here as fast as possible.”

Gritting her teeth at Ed’s plan, but unable to offer a better one, Luz takes off to the left. She tries to keep her eyes open for large groups of fighting, or flashes of white wings, but the scene is so disorientating that it’s impossible to focus. All around her, there’s spurts of red when an angel’s throat is ripped out, or when a limb is severed by a sword.

It sickens her.

_This is what I've trained my whole life to do._

_This is what I wanted to become._

_A killer._

If she gets out of here alive, Luz vows to change her profession. She’s seen enough death for a lifetime.

Something catches her eye in the very right-hand of her peripheral vision. Luz whips around, as fast at her wings will allow.

_Was that…_

She swore that she just saw a flash of very familiar mint green. 

“AMITY!”

“AMITY, WHERE ARE YOU?!”

If there was an answer, she can’t hear it over the cacophony of fighting.

Luz takes off back towards the right, eyes frantically scanning the skies searching for any indication of the archangel.

Then, practically buried under a massive horde of demons, she spots a flash of cream white feathers.

_Oh, god…_

“Amity!”

A small explosion forces all of the demons back, and Luz has to avert her eyes as a wave of heat rolls over her. By the time she looks back, the horde has cleared out enough to recognize the archangel.

It’s her.

Amity’s clothes are torn and smoking, green hair singed at the ends and falling in her face. The archangel looks exhausted, but her stance doesn’t waver for a moment, glaive sweeping back and forth in constant motion. Her blade hits every target, but for each demon she takes down, another flies in to replace it.

The explosion might have stunned them for a minute, but the demons are slowly pressing in on her again.

Just for a moment, Amity’s golden eyes flicker towards her. They grow wide, and the archangel yells something at Luz that she can’t hear. 

Her form only wavers for a couple of seconds, but it’s enough.

Two demons tackle her from the sky, knocking the glaive out of her hand, and the three of them fall to an island below, crashing through the trees.

_Amity… oh god, not like this!_

Blind panic laces her veins as Luz dives towards where the archangel landed.

_Please, please!_

_This is all my fault, take me instead!_

Barely remembering to spread her wings and slow down, she hits the ground hard, pain shooting up her calves. Luz grits her teeth and shakes it off, hobbling as fast as she can to where a cloud of dust is beginning to settle.

She breaks through into an open clearing, where Amity is fighting tooth and nail trying to throw the two demons off her. Luz raises her sword and charges forward, but the archangel’s eyes go wide with fear when she sees her.

“Luz, you have to get out of here! Get out of here, go, there’s-”

A hand clamps over her mouth, and the other pins her arms behind her back. Luz yells and bites at the fingers, but they don’t release her. She’s trapped.

Helpless.

Bile rises up in her throat.

Meanwhile, the two demons have Amity pinned to the ground, too heavy to throw off the weight of both of them. She thrashes around wildly, and so does Luz, but neither can break free.

She watches with horror as more demons emerge from the woods, whooping at the sight of them. 

“We’ve caught two live ones!”

“Heya!” 

A rather massive demon, hulking brute of a creature, steps out in front. He walks over to Amity, still flailing, and lifts the tip of her chin with a thick finger. She spits at him, eyes filled with murder.

“Would you look at that…”

The demon’s voice is quiet, but gravely, as if two rocks were grinding against one another.

“This one’s an archangel.”

Boos and jeers ring out across the clearing, echoing off the trees.

Luz only struggles more, yelling as loud as she can, but the sound is muffled behind the hand across her mouth.

“Mmmmphh! Let her _go!”_

The demon that holds her chuckles.

“This one’s feisty! Looks like they might know each other, too.”

The first demon kneels by Amity, who refuses to look at him. Frustrated, he grabs her chin, forcing her head upwards. 

“Concerned about your friend over there? Girlfriend?”

She bares her fangs at him, an unmatched fury in her eyes.

“I will rip you _limb-from-limb_ if you hurt her.”

He studies her for a second, then tilts his head back and lets out a deep, booming laugh.

“Well, I think our little archangel has herself a little angel girlfriend!”

All around them, demonic laughter bounces around the clearing, followed by shouts.

“Kill the girlfriend!”

“No, take an eye!”

“A finger!”

“Make the archangel watch the other one suffer!”

Luz thrashes even more, panic building with every second. Her throat feels raw and scratchy from screaming in the demon’s hand.

“No…”

The first demon pulls out a silver dagger, not unlike the one she saw on the ram-horned demon earlier.

_No, no, no no no._

_Please, this can’t be happening._

_This has to be a nightmare._

He runs the blade across the side of Amity’s face.

“See, for you, falling in love with an angel is forbidden.”

The point of the dagger pierces the skin on her cheek, making a small cult. A drop of blood falls from it.

“Hmmm, fallen. That’s what you are now. Fallen.”

The demon moves the blade away from Amity’s face, instead tracing it down her spine, where it comes to rest at the base of her wings.

“Let’s make it… official.”

A blood curdling shriek fills the air, more terrible than anything Luz has heard in her life. The sound is piercing, leaves her ears ringing, leaves her heart stumbling over itself. It’s raw, filled with nothing but agony. 

A second shriek, worse than the first, cries out past Amity’s lips.

Then silence.

After a moment, after the ringing in her ears has subsided, Luz hears nothing but the archangel’s quiet sobs. She sways on her feet, feeling her vision beginning to turn black around the edges.

Just as she’s about to pass out, salvation swoops down from the sky.

~~~

Luz remembers bits and pieces of it.

Her friends land in the clearing, weapons drawn and yelling war cries. 

Thorned plants erupt from the earth, growing from Willow’s seeds. They grow underneath the demon’s feet, usurping their balance. 

Arrows sprout from the bodies of demons around her, put there by Edric’s bow. Gus slits the throats of those who don’t die immediately. 

King is terrifying to watch. 

The demon may not have a career in public speaking, but he’s effective at turning people’s insides into their outsides. His claws bite into demon’s necks, tearing red lines down their sides. 

He kills without any qualms, despite the fact that he’s fighting against his own kind. 

Luz’s head pounds. 

_“My duty is to my kind, as your’s should be.”_

_Maybe… we choose our own kind._

_Maybe life isn’t so black and white._

She’s on the ground now, on her hands and knees. Whichever demon was holding her must’ve been distracted or killed. 

She looks up, and spots Amity curled up a few yards away, a pool of blood spreading out from her body. 

“No… no…”

Her voice is weak, hoarse. The battle around her drowns out the sound. No one can hear her. 

Luz’s vision fades in and out as she crawls towards where Amity lies, unmoving. She tries to focus on the only important thing, moving _forward._

Finally, she reaches the archangel’s side. 

There’s blood everywhere, on her face, on her hands, in her hair, soaking into her shirt and the earth below. Luz doesn’t care. 

Down Amity’s back are two, long slashes, where her wings should be. 

Amity’s wings are gone. 

She suppresses the urge to vomit, or pass out next to the archangel. Instead, she presses shaky hands against Amity’s spine, tears falling down her face. 

_Please…_

Luz repeats the same healing spell Viney used earlier, voice trembling with every word. 

_Please… I can’t let her die… I’ll sacrifice myself to keep her alive._

The archangel’s skin grows warm beneath her hands, uncomfortably so, and her hands are glowing brighter than the sun. Luz’s head spins, but she keeps repeating the words, letting the miracle flow out of her and into Amity. 

_My life, for hers._

Just for a second, she feels a moment of clarity. Sounds of fighting are drowned out, and suddenly, it’s only the two of them. Nothing else matters besides the two of them. 

And then, she collapses next to the archangel, eyes rolling up into her head.

~~~

Luz wakes in an unfamiliar room, on a hard bed. The sheets crinkle underneath her as she moves to a sitting position. 

Instantly, her head pounds with a fury, and she lets out a groan. 

_Where…?_

Her silent question is answered by Eda walking in with a glass of water. The woman startles when she sees Luz awake, setting the glass on her nightstand. 

“Hey, kid.” 

The fallen angel has her face twisted into a grimace, like it’s been permanently etched that way. 

“What happened?”

Luz’s memories catch up to her, fragments of throats torn out and wings missing. She sits bolt upright again, ignoring the pain in her head. 

_“Where’s Amity?!”_

“Easy there! You expended too much magic.”

“Where. Is. Amity.”

Eda glances over her shoulder, towards the hallway where Luz can now hear other footsteps. They fade off into the distance. 

“She’s…”

_She’s not okay._

“She’ll live.”

_But she’s not okay._

“Eda.”

The fallen angel looks at her, face filled with so much regret. It’s genuine, she can tell. The woman’s shadow wings, Luz now realizes, are gone. Without them, Eda seems… small. 

“What’s going to happen to us now?”

She casts her eyes to the floor. 

“I have no idea.”

  
  


**_To be continued…_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CHAPTER SUMMARY:
> 
> Luz calls all her friends to meet at her house. Camila shows up first, followed by Gus, Willow, Viney, Edric, and Emira. The twins are unable to find Amity, Emira is injured, and Luz is unwilling to leave without Amity. They split into two groups: Eda, Camila, Viney, and Emira go back to the Owl House; King, Luz, Edric, Gus, and Willow go to find Amity. They search for her for some time, near Belos's castle, before splitting up. Luz eventually spots Amity, but the archangel is over taken by demons and crashes on an island. Luz follows, but is captured by demons that were lurking on the island. Shit ensues, and Amity's wings get cut off. When it seems hopeless, their friends manage to find them and fight off the demons. Meanwhile, Luz tries to heal Amity, but passes out while doing so. When she wakes back up, Luz is at the Owl House with everyone else. Amity is still alive.
> 
> Luz: no don't die you're so sexy ahahaha
> 
> Amity: ... 
> 
> grrrrrrrrrr
> 
> On a side note, don't worry! It doesn't end here! In about three weeks (maybe more, maybe less), the second work in this series will start to be posted. Everything will be fine... eventually :D
> 
> Thank you all for reading, and thanks for 22k hits and almost 1.2k kudos! Keep your eyes peeled for the second work!


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